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Tim Ferriss

Chatri Sityodtong, CEO of ONE Championship — From Dirt Poor to Top-10 Sports-Media Franchise, The $100M Breakfast, Dominating Social Media (30B+ Views/Year), Key Strategic Decisions, and The Moneyball of Fight Matchmaking (#814)

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“Suffering is a path to our greatness.”
— Chatri Sityodtong

Chatri Sityodtong (@yodchatri) is the founder and CEO of ONE (you might know it as ONE Championship), one of the top-10 biggest sports-media properties in the world in terms of viewership and engagement (alongside the NBA, Formula One, Champions League, and Premier League), with a global broadcast reach to 195 countries. 

The largest sports-media property in Asia, ONE is also a celebration of Asia’s great cultural treasure martial arts. Chatri himself has more than 40 years of martial arts experience. He is a certified senior Muay Thai instructor under the legendary Kru Yodtong Senanan, and he holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Master Renzo Gracie. In 2019, he was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame.

Chatri holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Tufts University.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube. The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

This episode is brought to you by AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement; Helix Sleep premium mattresses; and Wealthfront high-yield cash account.

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Chatri Sityodtong, CEO of ONE Championship — From Dirt Poor to Top-10 Sports-Media Franchise, The $100M Breakfast, Dominating Social Media (30B+ Views/Year), Key Strategic Decisions, and The Moneyball of Fight Matchmaking

This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront is a financial services platform that offers services to help you save and invest your money. Right now, you can earn a 3.50% base APY—that’s the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account from its network of program banks. That’s nearly nine times more interest than an average savings account at a bank, according to FDIC.gov as of 09/26/2025 (Wealthfront’s 3.50% APY vs. 0.40% average savings rate). Right now, for a limited time, Wealthfront is offering new clients an additional 0.65% boost over the base rate for three months, meaning you can get 4.15% APY, limited to $150,000 in deposits. Terms & Conditions apply. Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started. 

The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The 3.50% Base APY on cash deposits is as of November 7, 2025, is representative, subject to change, and requires no minimum. If you are eligible for the overall boosted rate of 4.15% offered in connection with this promo, your boosted rate is also subject to change if the base rate decreases during the three-month promotional period. Tim Ferriss, who is not a client, receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage LLC. This ad may not reflect the experience of other Cash Account clients, and similar outcomes are not guaranteed. See full disclosures here. 

This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. And right now, when you first subscribe to AG1, you’ll get an AG1 Welcome Kit, a bottle of Vitamin D3+K2, a Morning Person hat, AND you’ll get to try each new flavor of AG1 and their new sleep supplement, AGZ. That’s $126 in free gifts for new subscribers! Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today

This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the best overall mattress of 2025 by Forbes and Wired magazines and best in category by Good Housekeeping, GQ, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders at HelixSleep.com/Tim.

Want to hear another episode with someone who appreciates a good scrap? Listen to my conversation with former mixed martial artist Bas Rutten, in which we discussed martial arts tradition in the Netherlands, bullies, Pancrase, fighting Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki, underrated Japanese fighters, pranks, self-defense for beginners and bouncers, street fighting, breathing with the O2 Trainer, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

  • Connect with Chatri Sityodtong:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

  • Connect with ONE Championship:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Threads | YouTube | TikTok

Companies, Institutions, and Organizations

Books and Magazines

Martial Arts Disciplines

Events & Competitions

People

Places

Relevant Resources

SHOW NOTES

  • [00:00:00] Start.
  • [00:06:49] Chatri Trisiripisal vs. Yodchatri Sityodtong
  • [00:08:35] My own experience with Muay Thai.
  • [00:10:05] Chatri’s introduction to Muay Thai.
  • [00:10:58] Chatri processes the strained relationship with his father.
  • [00:17:28] Fight Porn and my introduction to ONE.
  • [00:18:56] A pep talk in Japanese.
  • [00:23:00] Chatri’s secret life in a Harvard dorm with his mother on $4 a day.
  • [00:30:11] How Chatri made the money to fuel his martial arts ambitions.
  • [00:35:19] Why wealth has never provided Chatri with a sense of security.
  • [00:38:43] The moment Chatri began to fulfill one his mother’s prophecies.
  • [00:41:08] “To unleash your greatness, you must be surrounded by greatness.”
  • [00:44:56] Witnessing Yamato-damashii: the Japanese warrior spirit.
  • [00:48:43] Moving to Singapore and starting Evolve.
  • [00:51:59] Overcoming ONE’s initial financial challenges.
  • [01:03:06] Building ONE with Bushido-grade excellence.
  • [01:08:25] How ONE maintains quality and quantity fights and fighters.
  • [01:16:05] Leveraging social media to bring compelling human stories to ONE’s forefront.
  • [01:26:40] Chatri’s $100 million breakfast with Sequoia Capital.
  • [01:41:42] Making deals with CAA’s Fabian Stechel.
  • [01:45:13] A serendipitous meeting that resulted in investment from Qatar.
  • [01:47:51] Changing lives and building relationships across generations with martial arts.
  • [01:51:35] Recommended reading and admirable storytellers.
  • [02:01:03] A gracious invitation.
  • [02:02:39] Where in the world is ONE enjoyed most?
  • [02:07:14] Dealing with AI development and deep fakes.
  • [02:08:45] Global broadcasting business from behind the scenes.
  • [02:16:31] Funds raised and the competitive benefits of being early in the game.
  • [02:19:30] Fond regards for Renzo Gracie.
  • [02:23:49] Legendary fighters we would love to witness in their prime.
  • [02:26:27] High marks for Marcelo Garcia.
  • [02:29:23] How I learned what Chatri calls “flawless” Japanese.
  • [02:31:16] Chatri’s billboard and parting thoughts.

MORE CHATRI SITYODTONG QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Suffering is a path to our greatness.”
— Chatri Sityodtong

“You never know what is good luck or bad luck until many years later, when you discover what the lessons were of that experience.”
— Chatri Sityodtong

“If you’re fighting for yourself — you’re fighting because you want a six-figure salary, you’re fighting because you want to buy a nice car — it’s very easy to quit. But when you’re fighting for something bigger than yourself, it’s impossible to quit.”
— Chatri Sityodtong

“I truly believe my grandmaster, Kru Yodtong Senanan, who used to always tell me — I never really understood it until much later in life — ‘To unleash your greatness, you must be surrounded by greatness.’”
— Chatri Sityodtong

“In society, I’m a CEO, but when I’m in training, I’m a nobody. These guys beat on me, but it levels me up. It’s a daily reminder to me that I’m here to learn, grow, and evolve and be the very best martial artist I can be.”
— Chatri Sityodtong

“Love, pain, and suffering. That combination can work magic in terms of unleashing human potential. You will discover things about yourself that you never even knew existed in you.”
— Chatri Sityodtong

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Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)

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Ted Holzwarth
Ted Holzwarth
6 months ago

Really enjoyed the interview with Chatri and hearing his story. I was struck by something when he spoke about Qatar, the World Cup, and his relationship with the Qatari official. There are reports that up to 6,500 migrant construction workers died in the construction of the World Cup stadiums along with many other charges of abuse of these migrant workers. How does Chatri reconcile his stated goal of helping others, which I believe is genuine, with these reports? I am a lifelong soccer player and fan and watched every World Cup game I possibly could so I struggled with this myself. This isn’t intended to be a “gotcha” question and I’m not accusing Chatri of anything. I genuinely am interested in how he thinks about issues such as this.

Last edited 6 months ago by Ted Holzwarth
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George Henderson
George Henderson
6 months ago

Hi Tim, long-time listener, first-time commenter! And I’ve probably broken a golden rule, as this is unrelated to this podcast. BUT I was listening to this and thought of you… I know how busy you are, so I suggest listening from around 35 minutes in for about 10 minutes or so (although the whole podcast is interesting). Hopefully, you’ll see why I thought this would be up your alley. A bit of background – Harry Meade, event rider and all-round good bloke, very low key and extremely modest, has just become world number 1. I kept thinking if you’d interview him, you’d be able to get so many gems… Anyway, if you find the time, enjoy!

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Andy M.
Andy M.
6 months ago

Long time listener/follower. Re:This week’s 5-bullet Friday. Just wanted to send my appreciation for your shout out to Sevendust! Not only that but selecting a deep cut track from their earlier stuff (specifically the album Home, one of my favs).

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Jeff
Jeff
6 months ago

Marc Maron is a leftist. After nearly destroying our country, and continuing to destroy California, they no longer have a right to our attention.

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Daniel Marcos
Daniel Marcos
6 months ago

Hi Tim. I have a guest Suggestion for your podcast: Verne Harnish – Mastering the Playbook of Scale. I wanted to recommend someone I believe would make for a rich, high-signal conversation: Verne Harnish, founder of EO and author of Scaling Up, a book that’s become required reading for entrepreneurs serious about growth.
Verne has helped scale tens of thousands of companies worldwide and has a mental-model-rich approach to leadership, systems design, and performance optimization—very aligned with your show’s DNA. He’s also a master storyteller, blending strategic frameworks with wild tales from the trenches of scale.
If it’s of interest, I’d be happy to connect you with Verne’s team or provide more details.
Appreciate all you do,

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