ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong will go to Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on June 23 for a meet-and-greet with fans ahead of the promotion's biggest fight card yet at the historic venue in Bangkok.
Before the stacked ONE Lumpinee 22 event goes down, Chatri will meet with fans from 7pm-7.30pm at the arena.
The ONE Championship founder grew up in Thailand and was introduced to Muay Thai when he was eight years old before beginning his training at 13.
However, his family's fortune changed during the Asian financial crisis of 1997, and they lost everything.
As a result, Chatri's father fell into bankruptcy and, to make ends meet, he sold fruits on the streets before eventually abandoning the family.
In his early 20s, Chatri had to provide for his struggling family.
Upon his mother's urging, he moved to the United States in search of the skills that could turn his fortunes around.
The young student achieved a degree in economics from Tufts University before applying to Harvard Business School -- again with a push from his mother.
The budding businessman delivered Chinese food and taught Muay Thai to make ends meet and pay for his tuition while working towards his MBA.
Following his graduation from Harvard, Chatri turned down several six-figure jobs to start a company with a friend. In the beginning, he and his mother slept on the office floor and lived on frozen meals.
The leap was justified in the end, as Chatri's business grew to 150 employees and was eventually sold for US$20 million, allowing him to pay off his family's debts.
The ambitious entrepreneur then turned his attention to Wall Street, where he cut his teeth in the investment world before starting what would become a multi-million-dollar hedge fund.
Despite his financial success, Chatri wasn't happy.
So, he returned to his martial arts roots.
Chatri recognised that, despite over four billion people living in Asia, there was still no major sporting property here.
From that gap in the market, ONE Championship was born. Fast forward 10 years, and ONE has become Asia's largest sports media property.