Battling for survival: ONE Championship CEO's fight to succeed

When your name literally means warrior, there is a lot to live up to. But entrepreneur and martial arts instructor Chatri Sityodtong has done more than that. 

He's the CEO of ONE Championship, a major global sports property that's revolutionised sports entertainment and along the way is inspiring millions. Each time he's been knocked down, he's gotten back up and fought harder.

Chatri's early life was idyllic until the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997, when his father became bankrupt and abandoned his family. 

"We lost our house, we lost our car, and overnight I watched my family disintegrate," he says. 

Two things helped him through this period: "One was the fact that I was a martial artist. I had a warrior spirit forged into me, and second is my mother's love," Chatri told The Dialogue.

His relationship with his mother has clearly been pivotal. She instilled confidence in him as a child, telling him he would "grow up to help the world". 

He devised a plan to help his family, securing a place at Harvard Business School. Most students use university to escape their parents - not Chatri. 

"My mother ended up living with me in my dorm at Harvard," he says. She took the bed in the single room while he slept on the floor. She had, he continued, "nowhere else to go".

While at Harvard, Chatri survived on one meal a day and couldn't afford to take public transport. Despite this, he remembers the time fondly. 

"When I look back at that journey, I am filled with gratitude," he says. "I don't know, maybe, it's God or the Universes' way of helping people to unleash their potential."

Combined with his years of martial arts training, this has taught Chatri humility. "You have to be humble to learn," he states. 

He tries to impart this lesson