ONE Championship to award $50k performance bonus for every event

Asia’s largest mixed martial arts promotion ONE Championship will start giving away at least one $50,000 performance bonus to deserving athletes after each event.

The bonus spree, in fact, has already started last Friday at ONE: Heavy Hitters where Saygid Izagakhmaev, Ekaterina Vandaryeva, and Senzo Ikeda were rewarded for their performances.

“At a minimum, we're going to give one and at a maximum of five per show every single show and it goes across all different martial arts,” said ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

“So whether it's MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling, etc., all the different martial arts we feature, this is really an added incentive.”

Two criteria are being looked at for a fighter to win a bonus according to Sityodtong. Though the big boss would prefer to see a finish, a win is not necessary to get rewarded.

“We look at it from two criteria: one is performance, meaning displaying martial arts technique at the highest levels in the world,” he said.

“Second is gameness, having that finishing, that killer instinct every second of the fight, looking for the finish and not trying to coast, not trying to play safe.”

Before this announcement, the promotion had a “ONE Warrior Bonus” of $50,000 which was rarely awarded to a fighter.

—JMB, GMA News