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

— Nicolas 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.

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,

#OnThisDay in 2018, Aung La N Sang and Ken Hasegawa threw down in the craziest brawl in ONE history 🔥🔥🔥 @AungLANsang @kenhasegawa0226 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/LWFekEeJxA

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 29, 2021