According to Variety, ONE Championship’s latest round of funding has pushed the global mixed martial arts (MMA) organization’s valuation beyond the billion-dollar mark and the promotion’s annual revenue is on course to reach $100 million.

CEO / founder Chatri Sityodtong compares his company to the early days of Facebook in that his priority is reach rather than revenue.

The latest round of funding was reportedly led by Sequoia Capital which specializes in growth stage investments in private companies and has previously invested in Apple, Google, Oracle, PayPal, Stripe, YouTube, Instagram, Yahoo! and WhatsApp.

Last Saturday night the promotion was in Jakarta for ONE: “Grit & Glory” which saw Japan’s Yoshitaka Naito reclaim his strawweight title with a hard fought split-decision win over Brazilian Alex Silva.

This Friday there is a very strong card in Singapore with atomweight Angela Lee rematching Mei Yamaguchi in the main event. Two-division champion Martin Nguyen will also be defending his featherweight title against Christian Lee.

There are currently 15 ONE Championship events on the calendar between now and the end of the year. Shows are booked in Beijing, Yangon, Shenzhen, Kuala Lumpur, Manila Bangkok, Shanghai, and Jakarta as well as Singapore.

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