ONE Championship Makes History With Recent 'Friday Fights' Card's Viewership Record

ONE Championship has long viewed itself as the home of martial arts, and its efforts to develop a global audience for the scene have seen them break viewership records around the world with its most recent Muay Thai-centric card.

According to company chief Chatri Sityodtong, ONE Friday Fights 22 last Friday, June 23 was the most watched show "in terms of total viewership around the world, breaking new record high numbers across the board."

Moreover, home viewers in Thailand saw the ONE Friday Fights 22 card as a must-watch event which led to them logging a 4.3 rating among all demographics and a 5.8 rating in the male (15-plus) demographic based on numbers provided to the promotion by Nielsen.

ONE Friday Fights 22 ended with a bang after "The Kicking Machine" Superlek made short work of Nabil Anane as the Thai star's dynamic, high-energy attacks negated the latter's freakish length, landing the knockout blow after a big straight to the body allowed him to secure the win via first-round knockout.

In the co-main event, fans inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand saw Prajanchai PK Saenchai become the interim strawweight Muay Thai champion after pulling out a second-round knockout of his heated rival Sam-A Gaiyanghadao–marking the latter's second ONE Championship defeat at the hands of Prajanchai.

Also happening on the card was the highly anticipated ONE heavyweight title unification match as lineal champ Arjan Bhullar and interim king Anatoly Malykhin finally shared the ring after nearly over two years of stop-and-go starts.

While their deep-seated rivalry was evident throughout the buildup, it was Malykhin who went full throttle as he sought to beat the daylights out of Bhullar.

For the better part of three rounds, Malykhin's boxing was a problem that Bhullar could not solve and after an accumulation of body blows coupled with heavy hands to his head, the Indian-Canadian sensation had no choice but to cover up as he laid facedown on the ground while "Sladkiy" raining down punches as the referee called for the stoppage.

Rising Muay Thai stars like Kongthoranee Sor Sommai, Akram Hamidi and Thongpoon PK Saenchai also had their time in the limelight with big performances on the undercard. At the same time, Shamil Erdogan made his stunning ONE Championship debut with a knockout of Fan Rong in a middleweight MMA contest.

"Thank you again from the bottom of my heart to the greatest fans in the world! It is the beginning of what we will achieve together. Let's continue this movement and ignite the entire world on fire," Chatri later said in his post.