For nearly 16 years, Rich Franklin has served as Vice President for ONE Championship.
Unfortunately, “Ace” has been removed from the promotion’s executive roster, along with Senior Vice President (SVP) of Competition Matt Hume and Chief Operating Officer (COO) John Scheler.
Tim Wheaton first reported the news on Thursday.
ONE has been steadily downsizing over the last few months, releasing talent and canceling shows. How much longer it continues to operate outside of its weekly “Fight Night” cards in Bangkok
is unclear, but it’s become pretty clear in recent years that ONE will never reach its goal of becoming the “UFC of Asia.”
“It’s not looking good for ONE at the moment,” former ONE titleholder, Reinier de Ridder told MMA Fighting. “Unfortunately you are right but we’ll see how they bounce back. Hopefully, but I’m not sure.”
The No. 8-ranked De Ridder is one of several ONE fighters to transition to UFC.
