Last week saw the CEO of ONE FC promoted to the rank of brown belt. Chatri Sityodtong owns the Singaporean MMA promotion and has been grappling for several years now. Interestingly, he was promoted by Alex Silva.
This promotion has significant importance, as Alex Silva is a previous ONE Flyweight Champion. That’s right, previously a few years back Sityodtong wrapped the ONE belt around Silva’s waist. Now it was Silva’s turn to return the favor and gave Sityodtong his new brown belt.
Sityodtong was delighted with his promotion and took to Instagram to celebrate, adding “I received my brown belt in jiu-jitsu today. By my rough calculation, I have spent at least 2400 hours on the mats (if not more). It has been a long journey with many ups and downs (and injuries), but I would not change any of it. I have been submitted more times than I can remember. I have gone home discouraged more times than I care to admit. I have wanted to give up more times than I can count. For sure, I am not the most talented jiu-jitsu student, but my love for the gentle art is unbreakable.”
Unsurprisingly, this promotion took place in the legendary Evolve MMA gym in Singapore. On a separate note, it’s nice to see someone with wealth caring more about belts and personal goals than material success.
