Chatri Sityodtong's one-two punch

THERE was a time when One Championship was just an ambitious business plan scribbled on a piece of paper by a man who had once been so poor that he'd lived on one meal a day.

A little over five years later, the Singapore-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation is one of Asia's most powerful global sports brands and arguably the biggest rival to the more-established Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the United States.

The sports and entertainment company has come a long way since it held its inaugural event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang back in September 2011.

Since then, One Championship has staged 50 shows across the continent and beyond - in Beijing, Macau, Bangkok, Dubai, Manila, Kuala Lumpu…