Chatri Sityodtong

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Chatri Sityodtong
Chatri Sityodtong in Singapore.png
BornChatri Trisiripisal
1971 (age 50–51)
Thailand
Native nameชาตรี ศิษย์ยอดธง
ResidenceSingapore
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
StyleMuay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
RankKru in Muay Thai
Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie[1]
UniversityTufts University (BA)
Harvard Business School (MBA)
Websiteyodchatri.com

Chatri Trisiripisal (Thai: ชาตรี ตรีศิริพิศาล, RTGS: Chatri Trisiriphisan), known by the ring names as Chatri Sityodtong (Thai: ชาตรี ศิษย์ยอดธง, RTGS: Chatri Sit-yotthong) and Yodchatri Sityodtong (Thai: ยอดชาตรี ศิษย์ยอดธง, RTGS: Yotchatri Sit-yotthong), is a Thai-born entrepreneur and martial arts instructor based in Singapore.

He is best known as being the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Singapore-based combat sports promotion ONE Championship. He is currently the star of The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.

Early life and education[edit]

Raised in Thailand, Sityodtong is of half Japanese (mother's side), half Thai (father's side) ethnicity. He graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University in 1994. His family went bankrupt during the Asian Financial Crisis and his father eventually abandoned the family, but Sityodtong persevered[2] to obtain an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1999.[3]

Martial arts background[edit]

Chatri started Muay Thai as a child under Kru Yodtong Senanan of Sityodtong Camp in Pattaya, Thailand.

Senanan eventually gave Chatri the ring name, Yodchatri Sityodtong. A veteran of over 30 fights, Sityodtong's last professional Muay Thai fight was in 2008 in Thailand. He is a certified senior Muay Thai instructor under Senanan.[4][5] Before his death, Senanan appointed Chatri Sityodtong as one of 4 conservators of Sityodtong Muay Thai in the world.

Sityodtong started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2005 under Renzo Gracie at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City. He earned his blue and purple belts under the Renzo Gracie banner from BJJ World Champions Rafael Gordinho Lima and Leandro Brodinho Issa respectively. With Renzo Gracie's blessing, BJJ World Champion Alex Silva awarded Sityodtong his brown belt in 2021.[6]

In 2019, Sityodtong was inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame.[7]

Early career[edit]

Chatri Sityodtong started as an investment analyst at Fidelity Investments covering a variety of industries. He later launched Nextdoor Networks with Yau Soon Loo, a classmate at Harvard. Nextdoor Networks was a San Francisco based startup provider of e-commerce infrastructure.[8] Sityodtong was a Managing Director at Maverick Capital, a US$12 billion hedge fund. In 2005, backed by Farallon Capital, Sityodtong later launched Izara Capital Management, a US$500 million New York hedge fund.[9] After a decade on Wall Street, he retired.[10]

Current career[edit]

Sityodtong emigrated to Singapore around the mid-2000s, and has lived there ever since.[11] He is currently the founder, chairman, and CEO of ONE Championship.[12] Under his leadership, ONE was named Asia's largest global sports media property by Forbes,[13][14][15][16] while Nielsen ranks ONE amongst the world's top 10 biggest sports media properties in terms of viewership and engagement.[17] Sityodtong is also the current star of the latest edition of The Apprentice. In 2021, the show won Asia's Best Reality TV Series at the Asian Academy Awards.[18]

Evolve MMA[edit]

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (not associated with Evolve Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) is a chain of martial arts academies. Founded by Chatri Sityodtong, it opened in January 2009.[19]

According to Yahoo Sports Singapore, Evolve MMA has the largest roster of world champions across multiple martial arts sports.[20] It has world champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, Wrestling and No-Gi Grappling among others.[21][22]

There are currently four Evolve MMA academies: Evolve Far East Square, Evolve Orchard Central, Evolve KINEX, and Evolve Clarke Quay in Singapore. There is also Evolve University, the largest online university for martial arts.[23] Evolve MMA is affiliated to Sityodtong Muay Thai.[24] Chatri Sityodtong has stated that he wants to open an Evolve MMA camp in every major Asian city.[25]

Other[edit]

Chatri Sityodtong is also the founder of Evolve University, an online university for martial arts, as well as Evolve MMA, a chain of martial arts academies in Asia. Sityodtong also serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence and guest lecturer at INSEAD's Singapore campus.[26]

Charity[edit]

Sityodtong supports Global Poverty Project through his companies. He is an active donor to Boys' Town Home, a charity that serves abandoned children and youth in need. Sityodtong also supports the Singapore Children's Society and children with cancer with Children's Cancer Foundation.[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong earns BJJ brown belt". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  2. ^ Lui, John (26 June 2017). "Changing Lives". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  3. ^ "My Story | Chatri Sityodtong". chatrisityodtong.com. September 19, 2017.
  4. ^ "Asia set for mixed martial arts revolution | Reuters". reuters.com. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  5. ^ "Breaking News - Sports | The Straits Times". straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  6. ^ "ONE FC Chairman Chatri Sityodtong Earns BJJ Brown Belt". 20 September 2021.
  7. ^ "2019 Black Belt Hall of Fame". Black Belt. 1 November 2019.
  8. ^ Tornado Insider, [1], Nextdoor Networks profile
  9. ^ "News content". malaycr.com. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  10. ^ "Interview With Chatri Sityodtong, Former Hedge Fund Manager and the Man Behind Evolve MMA - MMAmania.com". mmamania.com. 18 March 2012. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  11. ^ "The One and Only". sglifestyle.sg. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  12. ^ Chandran, Nyshka (July 16, 2014). "Asia is grappling with this billion-dollar industry". CNBC.
  13. ^ Mazique, Brian. "ONE Championship And Singapore Have Partnered To Create Asia's Largest Global Sports Media Property". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  14. ^ "How to Become Asia's Biggest Global Sports Media Property: Secrets from ONE Championship". Inc. Southeast Asia. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  15. ^ U-Wen, Lee. "One Championship breaks new ground in 2019". The Business Times. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  16. ^ "How One Championship became the first truly pan-Asian sports media property". Marketing Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  17. ^ "HOW THE WORLD'S BIGGEST SPORTS PROPERTIES ENGAGED FANS IN 2020" (PDF). Nielsen Sports. Nielsen Holdings. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-27. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  18. ^ "2021_AsianAcademyAwards". variety.com. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  19. ^ "Founder's Message - Evolve MMA". Evolve MMA Singapore - Asia's #1 Mixed Martial Arts Gym.
  20. ^ "The 10 Best Martial Arts Schools in Singapore". Yahoo Sports Singapore. 12 Oct 2016.
  21. ^ hermes (2016-01-23). "MMA: Helping hand for epic fight". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  22. ^ "About Us - Evolve MMA". Evolve MMA Singapore - Asia's #1 Mixed Martial Arts Gym.
  23. ^ "News & Events Archives - Evolve Daily". Evolve Daily.
  24. ^ "About Us - Evolve MMA". Evolve MMA Singapore - Asia's #1 Mixed Martial Arts Gym.
  25. ^ Tommy Messano (30 November 2015). "Rawesome Fight Coverage and MMA News - MiddleEasy.com". My Blog.
  26. ^ "2013_CSityodtong". insead.edu. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  27. ^ "Philanthropy". 20 October 2017. Retrieved 2020-03-18.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chatri_Sityodtong&oldid=1082056152#Evolve_MMA"