Shoot Boxing Demands Apology From Chatri Sityodtong Due to Disrespectful Insults Following ONE 172

Chatri Sityodtong is accused of disrespectful bullying following ONE 172. Japanese star and Shoot Boxing Champion Kaito Ono was scheduled to face former contender Marat Grigorian. Ono made weight with no issue while Grigorian was more than an hour late and then failed to make weight, the Japanese fighter declined the catchweight bout. This was followed by insults from ONE Championship leader Chatri Sityodtong.

Chatri Sityodtong Insults and Disrespects Fighter

After ONE 172, at the post-fight press conference, Chatri Sityodtong hurled vitriolic disrespectful insults at Kaito Ono (59-8-0) for refusing to fight Grigorian who missed weight. “When a fighter wants to fight, they will fight. When a fighter is scared, they find every reason not to fight. I’ve been in this business a long time, I’ve seen it every time,” Chatri said, insulting Ono’s integrity.

The Shoot Boxing champion Ono responded by pointing out that he made the contracted weight within the agreed-upon timeline, respecting all rules of ONE Championship and keeping the fight integrity intact. He said, “Is [Chatri Sityodtong] serious? The one who didn’t show up for the weigh-in and ran away was your fighter, wasn’t it? I didn’t run away, not even for a millimeter … How can you say anything when you couldn’t even handle things properly before the fight? I’ve held back and kept quiet about a lot of things, but there are limits to what can and cannot be said.”

Kaito Ono is not a fighter with ONE Championship but was set to compete at ONE 172 due to Shoot Boxing agreeing to a cross-promotion fight. Now, Chatri has tarnished the relationship he had with the organization. But Chatri’s insults were not only aimed at other fighters, as he also bullied his own world champion, Jonathan Di Bella, publicly disrespecting the Italian-Canadian following his world title defense at ONE 172.

Shoot Boxing Demands Apology

The organization Shoot Boxing has worked on crossover matches in the past with RISE, K-1, and Glory with no issue. Shoot Boxing approached an agreement to share the fighter Kaito Ono in good faith, Ono made weight while Marat Grigorian failed to. ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong bullied and publicly shamed an athlete. Given the circumstances, Shoot Boxing has demanded an apology from Chatri due to his disrespectful behavior.

On social media, the organization wrote:

“As the Shootboxing Association, we protest against certain statements made by Event CEO Chatri during the press conference held after ‘ONE172’ on Sunday, March 23.

Initially, Kaito from our association was scheduled to participate in this event, facing Marat Grigorian. At the official weigh-in held from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM on the day before the event (22nd), Kaito cleared both the hydration test and weight measurement, and was prepared for Grigorian’s results.

However, Grigorian did not appear at the weigh-in venue during the specified time (11:00 AM to 1:00 PM) and did not submit a urine sample for the hydration test or undergo weight measurement.

ONE’s official rulebook mentions cases where fighters exceed hydration test values or weight limits within the specified time, but there is no mention of exceeding the specified time itself. We received no explanation from ONE’s competition staff on site regarding subsequent handling of the situation.

While it was unclear whether the fight would proceed, ONE staff directly emailed Kaito and his trainer with instructions to move to the public weigh-in location, bypassing our association staff who were accompanying Kaito. Moreover, these instructions were incorrect.

Amidst this confusion, our association staff confirmed by phone with ONE that if Grigorian cleared the hydration test even outside the specified time, there would be a right to negotiate a catchweight fight.

However, when Grigorian appeared about an hour after the official weigh-in time (2:00 PM), Japanese medical staff had already left the weigh-in venue due to the time overrun, leaving doubts about the hydration test Grigorian underwent.

Given these circumstances, an agreement was not reached to hold a catchweight fight between Kaito and Grigorian.

Kaito had prepared himself to the fullest, staking everything on this fight against an opponent he truly respected on the ONE stage, which he also deeply respected. He had cleared the hydration test and weight measurement in accordance with ONE’s regulations and was ready for the fight.

Considering Kaito’s feelings in this situation, we cannot overlook the irresponsible and outrageous comments made by Chatri last night, such as “He was only 300 grams over” and “He chose not to fight out of fear.”

While the Shootboxing Association primarily aims to develop the combat sports industry in a healthier direction and does not wish for troubles with any organization or event, we demand a retraction and apology for the insulting comments made towards Kaito, who had respected ONE’s rules and was looking forward to the fight more than anyone else.”