Report: ONE Championship to offer 50k bonuses for 'gameness'

ONE Championship fighters have a been given added incentive to produce fireworks with CEO Chatri Sityodtong reportedly offering a 50k performance bonus for athletes who show the most ‘gameness.’

According to SCMP MMA, Sityodtong will award,

‘A minimum of one bonus will be given out at each show, with a maximum of five awarded, based on fighters’ performances – and losers can win it too.’

The same article describes how the first recipients of the new bonus were #2-ranked lightweight Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev and Timofey Nastyukhin. The pair delivered an epic war at ONE: ‘Winter Warriors.’

New for @scmpmma:#ONEChampionship CEO @yodchatri will be awarding US$50,000 performance bonuses at every event.https://t.co/GL9QqJdXPJ

— Nick Atkin (@NicoSCMP) January 11, 2022

Dagi secured a savage third-round knockout against his countryman following an absolute barn burner. The bout was awarded 2021 Fight of the Year by the Singapore-based promotion. The win also maintained a 100% finishing rate for the Dagestani.

⏮ 2021 Rewind ⏮ Relive all the madness from the brawl between Dagi Arslanaliev and Timofey Nastyukhin! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/SXH2WjAB7v

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 31, 2021

‘Warrior Bonuses’ are not a new concept to ONE. They were first introduced back in 2014 with Edward Kelly being awarded the bag for his fantastic come-from-behind win against Rob Lisita.

Sityodtong later gave a bonus to both Angela Lee and Mei Yamaguchi following their inaugural ONE atomweight title fight in 2016. The ONE boss praised the performance of both fighters and said,

“Due to her extraordinary display of martial arts skill and warrior spirit in the main event of ONE Championship: Ascent to Power, ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee has been awarded a ONE Warrior Bonus of US$50,000. Mei Yamaguchi has also been awarded her fight win bonus for her valiant effort. Without a doubt, these two phenomenal martial artists put on one of the greatest WMMA world title fights in history. RESPECT!!! I am almost certain these two will meet again in the future.”

In 2018, both Aung La Nsang and Ken Hasegawa were each awarded 50k for their epic battle at ONE: ‘Century.’

At the time, Sityodtong wrote,

‘Congratulations to Aung La Nsang and Ken Hasegawa for putting on one of the greatest world championship title fights I have ever witnessed! WHAT A FIGHT!!! I am awarding both martial artists each a US$50,000 ONE Warrior Bonus for the extraordinary display of warrior spirit. Thank you for inspiring the world with your greatness!’

https://twitter.com/ONEChampionship/status/1409874302636199936

The next event for the promotion will be ONE: ‘Heavy Hitters’ and will feature Xiong Jing Nan in the main event. The Chinese star will be looking to defend her title for a sixth time when she takes on Japan’s Ayaka Miura.

| BJPenn.com

Report: ONE Championship to offer 50k bonuses for ‘gameness’

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