If anyone doubts the success of ONE Championship in Thailand since it launched its ONE Lumpinee event series, they should look no further than last week's fight card, which broke viewership records both in Thailand and abroad.
Last Friday, the martial arts organisation returned to Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for ONE Lumpinee 9, the biggest event at the iconic combat sports arena in years.
ONE Lumpinee 9 was the most-viewed Muay Thai event in history in terms of global viewership across 180 countries, according to Nielsen.
In Thailand, where the weekly series airs live on Channel 7HD, the event saw record highs, beating all shows and content categories in primetime.
In the main event, ONE lightweight Muay Thai world champion Regian Eersel defended his title in a rematch with Sinsamut Klinmee, knocking out the Thai in the fourth round with a pulverising body shot and locking in a 1.75 million baht bonus.
The night also featured Muay Thai superstars Muangthai PK Saenchai and Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai, who went head-to-head in bantamweight action.
The fight never made it to the end, as Muangthai starched his compatriot with a third-round elbow that Kulabdam couldn't recover from.
Earlier in the evening, former two-sport and two-division ONE world champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao returned to ONE under Muay Thai rules, taking on decorated Irish athlete Ryan Sheehan in a strawweight clash.
The legendary Thai striker dispatched his foe in the second frame, picking up right where he left off in ONE. Channel 7HD's viewership numbers ultimately reflected the historic night of martial arts action.
Among males 15 years and older, ONE Lumpinee scored a 5.1 rating.
In rural Thailand, the ratings floated around 4.7 throughout the night. In total viewership, the event scored a solid 4.0 rating.
