ONE Championship co-founder Victor Cui has departed the Asian martial arts promotion. Canadian-born Filipino Cui has taken up a role as president and CEO of his hometown club the Edmonton Elks in the Canadian Football League. He will remain a “significant shareholder” in Singapore-based ONE, however, and has joined its board of advisers. “My heart is filled with nostalgia and sadness to see him leave, but it is also filled with joy and happiness that he is going to chase another big dream,” ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who founded the company with Cui, wrote in a Facebook post. “I am confident that Victor will succeed in his new role just as he has in all of his roles at ONE. Victor is an extraordinary leader with a heart of gold.” Chatri said former ESPN Star Sports and PGA Tour senior executive Cui has a standing offer to return to at “any time in the future”, and will continue to help “help guide ONE”. ONE: De Ridder says ‘I can finish anybody in the world’ “Without a doubt, Victor will be missed by all of us,” Chatri added. “ONE would not be here today without Victor’s invaluable contributions. His legacy with ONE will remain forever.” Cui helped set up ONE and organise its first show on September 3, 2011, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. He also launched the ONE Elite Agency in November 2018. The agency manages several of ONE’s biggest stars including atomweight champion Angela Lee, strawweight champ Xiong Jingnan, former heavyweight champ Brandon Vera, former lightweight champ Eduard Folayang, and former UFC star Sage Northcutt “We shared many magical moments together as well as many heartbreaks,” Chatri said of Cui. “We dreamed, we fought, we slogged. At the end of the day, we poured our hearts and souls into ONE.”