Asia MMA promotion One Championship attracts big stake from new investor

TORONTO — Mixed martial arts promotions continue to interest investors.

Just two days after the UFC was sold for US$4-billion to a group of investors led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG, Asian-based One Championship announced it had reached agreement with a consortium-led by Heliconia Capital Management for an investment into the company.

“I believe this partnership marks the beginning of a long and fruitful journey to bring One Championship to the rest of the world,” Edmonton-born Victor Cui, the CEO of One Championship, said in a statement. “Heliconia is a well-respected investment firm with the expertise, resources and contacts across Asia.

“For us, this investment by Heliconia represents a strong vote of confidence and a belief in the value that One Championship can bring. This partnership will unlock additional markets and opportunities for One Championship.”

A source said the investment was in eight figures in U.S. dollars. 

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One Championships, a private company which calls itself the second-largest MMA organization in the world, says it reaches one billion homes across 118 countries around the world.

Heliconia CEO Derek Lau said his company believes One Championship “can potentially be the next big thing for consumers in Asia.”

“They have the right product for Asia, they understand Asia and know how to monetize the value proposition in various ways in the new economy.”

The Asian promotion has other ties to Canada than Cui. Vancouver-born Angela Lee is the promotion’s atomweight champion while Vancouver-based Bibiano Fernandes holds the men’s bantamweight title.

The Canadian Press