One FC Partners with 17 Asian Gyms, Orgs; Dream Deal in Works

One FC has inked “mutually exclusive partnerships” with a number of the region’s top organizations, according to an official release, including the Philippines’ Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), Australia’s Cage Fighting Championship and South Korea’s Road Fighting Championship. Gyms joining the group include Tiger Muay Thai of Thailand, Evolve MMA of Singapore and Team Lakay Wushu of the Philippines.

“Our goal is to unify Asian MMA and to build the sport that we all love dearly,” stated One FC CEO and Owner Victor Cui. “These strong partnerships will help to accelerate the development of Asian fighters and the sport of MMA in the region. ... If you are a One FC fighter, you will automatically be able to compete in the biggest MMA events across Asia within the One FC network. If you are a sponsor, you will be able to leverage target your sponsorship dollars across multiple platforms.”

Specific terms of the partnership were not immediately available. An additional 23 organizations reportedly remain in discussions to join the group, including one major player. Speaking with Sherdog.com, Cui revealed that the network could soon count leading Japanese promotion Dream among its members.

“If a deal is made between Dream and One FC, we would help each other’s promotions on a variety of levels. The key is leverage, economies of scope and economies of scale,” Cui said. “It would include everything involved in running a world-class show: capital, fighters, media, marketing, etc.”

In total, the various parties of the One Asia Partnership Network plan to stage 35 events in 2012. Asked if one such event could land in Japan, Cui indicated that it would depend on the result of the ongoing negotiations with Dream.

“Business in Asia is about partnerships and friendships. One FC would not hold a show in Japan without cooperation with Dream,” said Cui.

One FC itself has already targeted three dates for the new year: Feb. 11 at Kelapa Gading Sports Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia; March 31 at Singapore Indoor Stadium; and April 27 at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.