MMA has drifted into uneasy territory inside ONE Championship. And its roster has felt the consequences.
In March, a wave of releases hit ONE’s MMA ranks, with 11 fighters landing on the chopping block at the time of this publication. Included among that group are notable names such as the promotion’s long-reigning 125-pound strawweight champion Xiong JingNan, and former MMA champions Adriano Moraes and Zebaztian Kadestam. In addition to Xiong, specifically, ONE also shut down the entire women’s strawweight division.
This isn’t the first time ONE has been embroiled in controversy. The Asia-based promotion was once on track to be a major player in the global MMA landscape, breaking new ground with a cross-promotional deal with aspirations to go shoulder-to-shoulder with the UFC. Now, according to some of its former athletes, ONE’s MMA roster may as well be a graveyard.
“It was basically the inactivity,” former middleweight champion Kadestam told Uncrowned. “I’d been with them for a long time, since 2017. I had a few fights, but in the last three years, I barely fought. I’m not getting any younger. So it was time to move on.
“They didn’t seem very interested. We tried to [work with them]. I just want to fight, you know? I just want to be active. And I got my release.”
Now 35 years old, the Swede fought just twice for ONE since 2022 before he was granted his release in March. The lull seemed even more perplexing when considering Kadestam scored a massive upset knockout over high-profile newcomer Roberto Soldic in May 2023. His eventual return was against no slouch either, as he took on ONE legend Aung La N Sang for the latter’s retirement bout last year — 29 months after Soldic. Prior to that stretch, he had reliably competed twice per year since joining ONE in 2017.
At this point, Kadestam echoes a growing sentiment within the MMA community: In 2026, the sport has become an afterthought inside ONE. When it comes to MMA title fights, the promotion has hosted just one in 2026, compared to nine in other sports. The only upcoming MMA title fight currently on ONE’s schedule is a 155-pound featherweight title bout, set for May 16 at ONE Fight Night 43.
“I think most of the MMA fighters are kind of like — I don’t see anyone getting very pushed, you know?” Kadestam said. “I heard some stuff, but I’ve had some good years with them, so it is what it is. I’m just going to move on, and I’m going to try to rack up some wins.”
Kadestam has been relatively measured compared to others who exited the promotion. Take the loudest voice, for example: Former two-division champion Reinier de Ridder.
Since leaving in 2024, the Dutchman hasn’t minced words, even going so far as to advise other MMA fighters against signing with ONE. Like Kadestam, de Ridder found himself stuck in a similar pattern, competing just once after 2022 before his departure.
Asked about de Ridder’s criticism, Kadestam kept it brief.
“I think it’s obvious,” he said.
“It’s been a lot of ups and downs with ONE.”
If nothing else, de Ridder has found exactly what he was missing: Activity. He’s already fought six times in the UFC. That stretch nearly matches his entire nine-fight ONE run from 2019 to 2024. And despite moving on, he told Uncrowned last July that ONE’s MMA fighters still regularly reach out to him for advice.
“Obviously, they’re not doing well. Obviously, money’s running out and whatever, but they’re just making the wrong decisions,” de Ridder said. “Why would you want to f*** up somebody’s career? I just don’t understand. Our time is so short. We only have a couple of years in our prime, and they’re just trying to ruin people’s careers. It’s just that plain and simple. It’s coming out more and more. Everybody sees what’s going on. It’s just, why? I don’t know.”
Moraes offered a more nuanced perspective, though he also acknowledged the focus of he and de Ridder’s previous fighting home isn’t where it once was.
“Reinier de Ridder is Reinier de Ridder that signed with UFC because he was a ONE Championship double champion. I think he can’t deny everything that he passed through in ONE Championship to build up who Reinier de Ridder is today,” Moraes said.
“But his comment is real. If you are an MMA fighter nowadays, you have to see another option — for MMA fighters, for mixed martial artists — that bring some good platform for you to showcase your talent and work it in a good platform.
“I’m not saying that ONE Championship is not, but right now, ONE Championship is focused on striking disciplines. If you are a Muay Thai fighter, if you are a kickboxer, please go to ONE Championship. They have the best platform ever right now. I think it’s better than GLORY [Kickboxing]. But if you are a mixed martial artist, I think you have to check out other opportunities, for sure. … I’m on the side of the athletes. The more organizations we have to work with, it’s much better. The offers are going to increase.”
Behind closed doors, some issues have run deeper than inactivity.
During the latest wave of releases, longtime ONE executives Rich Franklin and Matt Hume also parted ways with the company — a notable behind-the-scenes shift.
One well-known fighter, who spoke to Uncrowned on the condition of anonymity, described a murkier situation. When they approached ONE seeking a release, they were allegedly told to look elsewhere. A green light, in theory. They secured and accepted an offer from another major promotion, only for ONE to allegedly invoke its right to match, effectively blocking the move despite previously encouraging the fighter to explore their options.
That same fighter’s inactivity began in 2022. A familiar pattern.
The anonymous fighter pointed to a clause allowing ONE to match offers for up to a year after their contract’s expiration. A full year is rarely the length of a normal matching window in top-level MMA.
Moraes encountered something similar.
“I never fought in another organization. My whole career was built up in ONE Championship. My contract expired August 30. So, after that, I was asking for a fight,” Moraes said. “Nobody answered me. Like, I didn’t get any answer back from the ONE team. So after that, I asked to be released. OK, of course, my contract was expired, so I don’t have a contract anymore. I asked them, ‘You guys want to negotiate something? You guys want me to come back and fight? You guys have any fight for me coming up? What do you guys want by my part? Let’s work.’ They say, ‘No, we don’t have any fights, Adriano.’
“My contract expired, I didn’t want to re-sign. I wanted to just close this book, and life’s going on. But I have the [matching] period — this period was one year. Oh my God, I cannot wait one more year out. I want to come back and fight. The time is flying and [I’m] just [getting] old, I don’t get young anymore. I just want to come back, have fun and fight.”
Unlike the aforementioned anonymous fighter, that situation seemingly worked out in the end for Moraes, as the former champion is now set to fight on the first-ever MMA card on Netflix for Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions on May 16. But given how confusing ONE’s contract terms can be, the anonymous fighter raised a compelling concern.
“They can match the money,” they said. “But they can’t guarantee the activity. What’s stopping them from giving me one fight and shelving me again?”
That uncertainty was at the core of their dispute. But additionally, the fighter and their team estimated their purse had dropped by roughly 40% over recent bouts, a trend they say reflects a broader pattern of neglect within ONE rather than circumstances.
Why would you want to f*** up somebody’s career? I just don’t understand. Our time is so short. We only have a couple of years in our prime, and they’re just trying to ruin people’s careers. It’s just that plain and simple. It’s coming out more and more. Everybody sees what’s going on. Reinier de Ridder
It all goes back to the shift away from MMA, believes Moraes.
“I’ve been with ONE Championship since the beginning. I was there when they rose up, I think I helped out when they rose up in MMA,” Moraes said. “I’m telling you about the mainstream — when we were in the mainstream of MMA was around like 2018, 2019, when Demetrious Johnson arrived. It gave ONE Championship a lot of views. The viewership, for sure, in that time increased a lot. But after that, they started to focus a lot on Muay Thai and striking disciplines. The Thai fighters, [ONE] push a lot — the kickboxers, Muay Thai athletes. They started to throw MMA to the corner. As an MMA athlete, you’d get a lot of people upset with that.
“That’s what I think is happening in ONE Championship. They try to focus a lot on striking disciplines and forgot about MMA. That’s why a lot of MMA fighters get upset with the organization.”
In hindsight, 2022 looms large. ONE was long based in Singapore until its parent company, Group One Holdings, relocated to the Cayman Islands that same year. While its headquarters remain in Singapore, the promotion hasn’t hosted an event in the country since September 2023, with its global operations hub moving to Bangkok, Thailand — the new home of ONE.
Since the start of 2023, nearly every ONE event has been in Bangkok’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. There might be a reason for that, said Moraes.
“Over there, they have really big support from the [Thailand] government,” he said. “That’s helped them, too. That helps them make a lot of events happen.
“It is what it is,” Moraes added. “I think karma is real.”
Moraes never had any interest in fighting outside his longtime sport of MMA, yet even Muay Thai fighters within ONE aren’t free from bizarre circumstances. Case in point: ONE’s arguable all-time greatest homegrown superstar, Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
Rodtang competed in April at ONE Samurai 1 in Japan, losing a rematch to Takeru Segawa in what doubled as Takeru’s retirement bout. But the headlines began before the fight ever started.
ONE filed three lawsuits against Rodtang across Thailand, Singapore and Japan, alleging multiple breaches of contract and “damaging public statements.” The promotion sought between $17 million and $20 million in damages, citing reputational harm tied to Rodtang’s public comments.
Rodtang’s claims were explosive for a star of his caliber within the promotion. He said he hadn’t seen his current contract until 2025, despite it allegedly being signed in 2022. He claimed he couldn’t understand it due to language barriers and accused the promotion of forging his signature on more than 30 contracts. Like others, he believed his deal had already expired — a claim ONE disputed.
ONE made a public statement when announcing its lawsuit against Rodtang, stating that legal action was necessary to protect the company and its stakeholders. It also claimed they tried to resolve the matter privately before suing.
Rodtang maintained his position, stating his inability to speak English and hoping to negotiate, while still believing he held evidence of his defense in his position. Ultimately, a resolution was reached: Rodtang fought and agreed to honor his existing contract, while issuing a public apology and retracting previous statements.
Still, the situation adds to a growing list of questions.
Across the board, fighters describe a promotion in transition. One that has found undeniable success in the striking arts, at least from a talent recruitment perspective, but also one that’s left its MMA foundation unstable in the process.
For now, ONE’s MMA landscape remains in flux, caught somewhere between what it was and what it’s becoming.
Representatives for ONE could not be reached for comment when requested by Uncrowned. Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani also contacted ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong for comment on the Rodtang situation. He did not respond.