Photo credit to @ONEChampionship on Twitter
Chatri Sityodtong on ONE Championship Atomweight division in 2021
With ONE: Empower being such a success and the Grand Prix semi-finals set to be announced at ONE: Revolution, the ONE Championship Atomweight class has many eyes on it presently.
The Atomweight Grand Prix belt is 26.2 pounds and is the heaviest belt in the world of any global organization per ONE figurehead Chatri Sityodtong.
The weight of this tournament win is greater in a metaphorical sense though. The winner not only captures that impressive GP belt. But will also secure a shot at Atomweight champ Angela Lee’s title in 2022.
I spoke with ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong and got his thoughts on the latest divisional happenings as well as the future of the ONE Championship Atomweight category.
Fans voting on the ONE Atomweight Grand Prix semi-finals with those bouts set to be revealed at ONE: Revolution
“Our social media team came up with the idea. I think it was during fight week and we said ‘okay let’s do it.’ It was just another way to get fans involved. I thought it was an innovative way and why not? We had a phenomenal GP up ahead and there was a lot of buzz. Just the fans enjoyed it. Judging from the number of votes, we got tons of votes in it. So we look forward to announcing it. I think in a week and a half or so.”
ONE Championship Atomweight
Victoria Lee‘s progression in ONE Championship a year after signing the teenage phenom
“So according to her parents and her siblings, Victoria is the pound for pound best martial artist in the family. And it’s mind-boggling. She had her first pro fight at 16. When I was 16, I couldn’t even tie my shoelaces. Here she is, she’s a straight-A student, a 4.0 GPA student in high school. And she’s a rising star on the world’s largest stage of martial arts.”
Chatri Sityodtong continued, “I just cannot imagine the pressure, her mental toughness, you know. To have siblings who are both world champions, to walk onto a platform as big as ONE, and perform remarkably well. She just loves it, you can just see it. I spoke to Victoria after her last fight and she’s just in her element, man. She loves it. This is what she’s born to do. Just some people are lucky to find the very thing they love most and have the talent to be the best in the world. So I expect huge things from Victoria in the future.”
