LION Championship to end with thrilling belt bouts

Mixed Martial Arts

Felipe Ventzki Negochadle of Brazil (above) will fight against Nghiêm Văn Ý of Việt Nam in the LION Championship 11’s men’s 65kg class. Photos of organisers.

HÀ NỘI — The final LION Championship (LC11) promises thrilling fights including five belt matches on December 9 at Hà Nội’s Quần Ngựa Sports Complex.

The main feature is the defending title fight of 2018 Asian Games wushu sanda bronze medallist Nghiêm Văn Ý of Việt Nam against Brazilian black-belt jujitsu artist Felipe Ventzki Negochadle in the men’s 65kg class.

Ý has been Việt Nam’s representative in different international tournaments. He recorded an unbeaten streak to win his belt in the first season in 2022 with his striking style.

However, he has not competed in any professional event this year. The only tournament he fought in was the Asian MMA Championship in September in Thailand where he took a bronze.

His rival, Negochadle, has a different style of grappling. He takes part in the LION Championship 2023 from the B class for low level athletes. However, his outstanding performance over this year made organisers decide to lift him to the A class.

Negochadle competed successfully in a number of international events, securing one knockout (KO) and two submission wins at this year’s LION Championship. In the latest match at the LC10 in October, he defeated Vietnamese Asian MMA champion Nguyễn Tiến Long and bagged a place in the upcoming title match.

In another event, 20-year-old fighter Bàn Văn Hoàng will punch Vietnamese-Polish Kamil Michal Nguyễn Văn for the men’s 70kg belt.

The belt went to iconic MMA fighter Trần Quang Lộc after beating Kamil in the LC06 in June, but he announced his retirement 20 days later due to health reasons.

Hoàng earned his belt match place for the first time after three wins in previous LION Championship events.

He knocked out Đặng Thắng Nguyên in the LC04 and Lê Văn Thế Anh in the LC05, before taking a technical knockout (TKO) against Nghiêm Tùng Lâm in the LC08.

Meanwhile it is Kamil’s third time in the final. He lost twice to champion Lộc in the 2022 season’s grand finale and the LC06.

A poster of the LION Championship 11, the last event of the series in 2023.

In the men’s 84kg, 2019 world wushu sanda silver medal holder Phạm Công Minh will fight national wushu sanda fighter Trần Quốc Toản for the prestigious belt.

Minh has been in his peak this year, recording three TKO wins over Cao Việt Anh in the LC06, Hoàng Trần Minh Hiếu in the LC09 and Ngô Hồng Giang in the LC10. He is also the owner of the fastest victory in the LION Championship series. He floored Hiếu in the LC09 in September in just 15 seconds.

None of his rivals could stand firmly under eight-time national champion Minh’s storm attack till the end of first round.

On the other side, Toản also took two TKO against Lương Minh Cảnh last year and Phạm Hùng Hải in the LC06 in June to step into the belt match.

The men’s 60kg belt is also open after No 1 Muay Thai champion Nguyễn Trần Duy Nhất gave it up as he will not compete in MMA in the future.

Nhất said MMA was not his main subject, but Muay Thai. The seven-time world champion will focus on Muay Thai for further success.

The winner of the fight between Brazilian Robson De Oliveira Soares and Vietnamese Bùi Trường Sinh will take the belt home.

After a submission win against Phan Huy Hoàng in the LC08, Soares jumped to No 1 position of this weight category. The national three-time champion has a black belt in jujitsu.

Meanwhile, Sinh places No 3 after knocked out Lê Văn Tuần in the LC05 in May and qualified for quarter-finals round last season.

Hungarian Bianka Balajti seen delivering ground and pound during a match at LC10 last month. She will vie for the women’s 56kg belt.

The only women’s belt match is between reigning champion Dương Thị Thanh Bình of Việt Nam and rising star Bianka Balajti of Hungary in the 56kg class.

Bình won a national kickboxing gold in 2020. She took silver the Asian MMA Championship in August. She is known for her striking style and as a master of armbar.

Bình won her title last season after using the armbar to have a submission win over Nguyễn Thị Hương in the final.

Balajti booked her belt match place by beating Nguyễn Thị Hương by a TKO in the LC04, Lê Nguyễn Khánh Linh in the LC06 and Nguyễn Thị Uyển Nhi in the LC08 by submission.

There are 14 fights divided into class A and B. The class B held in the afternoon will be free for audience, while they need to buy tickets for the class A matches in the evening.

All matches will be live broadcast on VTVcab channels. VNS