Could ONE FC become the next big international MMA organization?

If you beleive (and it's hard not to) various MMA sites, you'll know that Japanese MMA is on life support and seems to be only a matter of time before it's a goner. With this Dream and Sengoku will vanish and for many of us MMA fans, our fix of International MMA will leave us shivering on the floor...at leats till a UFC or Strikeforce show is on that weekend...

*cough* Anyway it looks like ONE FC (One Fighting Championship) is stepping up and it could be the answer to our international MMA addiction. Bloody Elbow beleives they have a good chance of succeeding due to; They have a good concept that can appeal to casual fans, MMA in Singapore is booming, Decline of Japanese MMA, OneFC's business model, They have a huge reach, and reportedly have people with deep pockets backing them. You can find those points explained in detail here: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/7/5/2257770/one-fc-has-the-potential-to-be-the-top-mma-promotion-in-asia

And over at mma-japan.com, they have a bunch of ONE FC details. First is the roster which you can check out here: http://mma-japan.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=773:onefc-reveals-a-deep-roster-of-fighters&catid=50:onefc&Itemid=94
The fighters particpating gives me an impression of a throwbnack to the early days of UFC and MMA

Then there is broadcasting info: http://mma-japan.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=774:onefc-broadcasting-info&catid=50:onefc&Itemid=94
By the sounds of it though, us western folks will have to watch it through streams or...other methods #shiftyeyes

Best news of all is that El Guapo himself Bas Rutten will be part of the commentary team. For me, PRIDE died when Rutten left the commentary and his involvement means I'm even more interested.

And that's that. So interested or is this all "meh" news to you?

Could be interesting, we'll see what they announce for a first card. As well as what kind of TV distribution they get.

I don't recognize any names but I do see a few Gracie's. Interested to see what kind of cards they can put together. All orgs gotta start somewhere.

I'm definitely interested in this promotion...Maybe with Bas in the fold it will be shown on HDNet eventually

This is interesting.  Just today I read that Hong Kong's fight promotion, Legend FC (whose events we post for picks here and whose promoters we have spoken to a few times) took on a new investor, the former COO of News Corp.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-13/peter-chernin-purchases-stake-in-hong-kong-s-legend-fighting-championship.html  That should give Legend some additional oomph to grow out of Hong Kong while One looks to build its base in Singapore.  Can't be too long before they bump heads.

I also see that One's roster of Gracie fighters -- Gregor, Igor and Rolles -- are the guys based out of Renzo Gracie New York.  They, along with Renzo, used to be affiliated with Art of War, the China-based promotion that hasn't put on a show in almost two years.  Art of War was backed by money out of the middle east, I wonder if One is too.

I love the fact that MMA has grown the way it has. It gives the fighters more options to prove themselves in the world. Back in the day it was either PRIDE or UFC. Now there's some many good orgs, I think Legends FC could very easily be the next big international MMA org, but then they do have to compete with M-1, DREAM, and ONE.

Hell, who knows maybe those orgs will combine together and create one great international super organization.

an international monopoly vs the ufc. who would have thunk it. :-}

MiddleEasy recently had an interview with the head of the organization, Victor Cui

The questions asked were:
So what's the deal with women fighting in One FC?
How's the heavyweight situation in One FC?
It seems that One FC is going for entertainment over rankings when establishing fights.
How will people outside of Asia be able to see One FC's first event?
We just found out that Shinya Aoki will be in Singapore on September 3rd. How is One FC's relationship with the Japanese MMA scene?

Pretty informative and good as Cui - while obviously providing hyberbole - comes across as a man with ambitious but realistic plans

MMA-Japan also announced the fight card:

Eduard Folayang (Team Lakay) vs Ole Laursen (Legacy Gym) 155lb

Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Jackson's MMA) vs Phil Baroni (AKA) 170 lb

Mitch Chilson (EvolveMMA) vs Eric Kelly (Yaw-Yan Ardigma) 145lb

Gregor Gracie (Team Renzo Gracie) vs Wang Sai (China Top Team) 170 lb

Andy Wang (Grappling Unlimited) vs Zorobabel Moreira 155lb

Undercard

Radeem Rahman (EvolveMMA) vs Susovan Ghosh (Tigers Gym) 125 lb

Soo Chul Kim (Team Force) vs Leandro Issa (EvolveMMA) 135 lb

Vuyisile Colossa (Team Colossa) vs Wang Ya Gi (Extreme Sanda) 155 lb

Daniel Mashamaite (Ultimate MMA/PTT) vs Yodsanan Sityodtong (EvolveMMA) 135 lb

Eddie Ng (EvolveMMA) vs Wu Chengjie (Extreme Sanda) 160 lb Catchweight

* Edited at 07.26.2011, 11:00 AM ET *