George St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre, 39, of Canada, Renzo Gracie, 53, of Brazil and Ben “Funky” Askren, 36, of the United States will join ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong at “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.” They will help guide the show’s 16 contestants in the boardroom and in athletic challenges when the Singapore-based martial arts promotion’s unique take on the hit reality television show airs on AXN in early 2021.

“I am beyond excited to fly to Asia to be part of ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition,'” St-Pierre said. “Chatri is a great leader and entrepreneur and it is an honor for me to guest star alongside him on the show and learn everything that I can. I hope to share my insight and knowledge in business, as well as how it is to be an elite athlete, with the contestants and help them become successful.”

The 16 contestants will compete in a high-stakes game of business and physical challenges and the winner will receive a US$250,000 job offer to work directly under Chatri for a year as his protégé in Singapore. He said, “It is my absolute honor to announce that mixed martial arts legend Georges St-Pierre, master Renzo Gracie and former ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren will join me in guiding 16 young entrepreneurs who will compete in the boardroom to become ‘The Apprentice’ and work by my side at ONE Championship.”

Including St-Pierre, Gracie and Askren, 12 superstar athletes and world champions are set to guest star on the show. Athletes will participate with contestants in tests of athletic ability and cardio endurance.

“Chatri is a personal friend and I’ve seen him build ONE Championship into an immensely successful business today,” Gracie said. “I have tremendous respect for the way Chatri leads and runs his company, and I am truly honored to be able to join him in discovering ‘The Apprentice’ on one of the biggest reality TV shows in history! I can’t wait to meet the contestants and work with them on any challenge.”

Among the athletes previously announced to make appearances are ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon “The Truth” Vera, 42,of the Philippines, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee, 23,of Singapore, ONE Flyweight Grand Prix World Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, 33, of the U.S., wrestling champion Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat, 25, of India, Karate World Champion “Super” Sage Northcutt, 23,of the U.S. and ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan, 31, of China. More world champions joining the show will be announced at a later date.

“It feels great to be able to be back working with ONE Championship again although this time, it will be outside of the ONE circle,” Askren shared. “I can’t wait to bring the funky into the boardroom and share some of my experience in business and athletics with the participants. I am sure we will have so much fun on the show.”

The show also includes appearances from 12 CEOs from the world’s largest companies. Among the CEOs confirmed to join the first season so far are Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, 50, of China, Grab CEO Anthony Tan, 38, of Malaysia, Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose, 28, of India, Catcha Group CEO Patrick Grove, 45, of Australia and Everise CEO Sudhir Agarwal, 48, of India.

“The Apprentice” is one of the world’s biggest non-scripted reality TV programs in history that judges the business skills of a group of contestants competing for a job offer with a high-profile CEO. It has aired in over 120 countries.

“The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” Season 1 will consist of a total of 13 episodes. Here is Chatri’s protégé Niharika Singh, 31, of India: