Mixed martial arts

Armando de Crescenzo celebrates his win at the Mixed Martial Arts LION Championship 19 on November 16 in Phú Quốc Island. — Photos of VMMAF

KIÊN GIANG — Armando de Crescenzo's rear-naked choke brought him the winning belt at the Mixed Martial Arts LION Championship 19 on Saturday on the pearl island of Phú Quốc, Kiên Giang Province.

South African de Crescenzo faced Vietnamese Lý Văn Huỳnh in the main bout of the nation's largest MMA series, vying for the men's 77kg title which was returned to the organising board when defending champion Aleksei Filonenko relinquished it due to a serious back injury.

Huỳnh, a master of sanshou, immediately attacked and hit de Crescenzo with his signature kick to the stomach. He continued to overshadow his rival with powerful body shots and knee strikes.

However, de Crescenzo is a stubborn fighter after years training in Muay Thai. He stayed unfazed under a shower of punches and fought back.

He approached Huỳnh to limit his room for kicking and punching before taking the Vietnamese down. A rear-naked choke was applied and Huỳnh could only tap out near the end of the first round.

De Crescenzo became the second champion of this category after Filonenko who won in 2022.

In the co-main card bout, invited Rhino Casipe of the Philippines suffered a leg injury when he was warming up for the men's 62kg against Vietnamese Trần Ngọc Lượng.

Minutes after help from a doctor, Casipe tried to take part in the match but several seconds later, ruled himself out handing an easy win to Lượng.

In other fights, Zakhar Dzmitrychenka of Belarus beat Trần Quốc Toản of Việt Nam in the first round of the men's 84kg category. He wrested Toàn to the floor and finished him with ground and pound in the second minute.

Zakhar Dzmitrychenka of Belarus (above) secures a slot in the men's 84kg belt match in the LC20 next month.

He advanced to the belt match against reigning champion Phạm Công Minh in the next series in December in Hà Nội.

The LC19 also featured two rear-naked choke wins for Trần Việt Anh over Nguyễn Trung Hải in the men's 65kg, and Bạch Văn Nghĩa against Phan Huy Hoàng in the men's 60kg.

The men's 56kg bout was the only one with balance as Trần Trọng Kim and Bùi Đình Khải both performed attacking styles in the first two rounds.

Despite being 36 years old, Kim showed off his strong physique and experience which helped him gradually dominate the third round.

A heavy low kick made Khải, 23, dizzy and he was floored. Kim took the mount position and delivered the killer rear-naked choke to wrap up his win.

In the women's 52kg, kindergarten teacher Lò Thị Phung continued to demonstrate her superior MMA class with a quick knockout against Hồ Thị Ngọc Bích.

Lò Thị Phung on top of Hồ Thị Ngọc Bích in the women's 52kg match.

The national jujitsu champion gave no time for Bích to adapt to the match. She quickly approached her rival and took Bích down for a rear-naked choke. Phung was called the winner after just under two minutes.

The LC20 will be back in the capital city on December 14.

The finale will feature two title matches between Vietnamese-Polish defending champion Kamil Michal Nguyễn Văn and Jovidon Khojaev of Tajikistan in the men's 70kg, and reigning winner Chelsey Cashwell of the US against challenger Lò Thị Tâm of Việt Nam.

Other thrilling bouts will be announced later. — VNS