ONE Championship announced that it has strengthened its agent certification with minimum requirements and eligibility requirements.
A glaring requirement to be an agent for ONE Championship is being a resident in Asian for one year. In addition, the agent must not have a criminal record, no history or current ongoing matters of legal or lawsuit activity with any activity. There is also a requirement that the agent must have 10 years of related experience in the martial arts industry and must have a college or university degree.
The announcement comes at a time when the company announced a TV and Film Production Arm One Studios to complement its current assets.
Unlike other professional sports like MLB, NBA or NFL which requires certifications for agents to represent players, the standards are cleared by player associations. Here, it does not appear that that is the case. Moreover, the requirements can seemingly eliminate many agents for any instance that have had a contract dispute with a fighter even if the agent was in the right.
The move may be seen as a way to protect fighters and safeguard the money they make and ensure that only the most experienced in the business are involved. On the other hand, one may argue that this is a way to control the fighter pool to ensure that the promotion has a cadre of agents that will cede to ONE Championship in contract negotiations knowing that they could be de-certified. It also forecloses many U.S.-based agencies without an office in Asia.
We shall see if this new certification requirements equates to a foreclose of access to ONE fighters especially those like Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez and Sage Northcutt who had representation in the U.S.
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