Mixed martial arts

Phạm Công Minh celebrates with his coach and crew after defending his LION Championship 84kg belt. Photos courtesy of VMMAF

HÀ NỘI — Wushu martial artist Phạm Công Minh successfully defended his title after a technical knockout (TKO) win in the LION Championship 22, the nation's largest mixed martial arts competition, on Saturday in Hà Nội.

Minh, who was the reigning champion of the men's 84kg category, was challenged by famous Belarusian wrestler Zakhar Dzmitrychenka — known online as 'Thor' — in the octagon at the Tây Hồ District Gymnasium.

The Vietnamese fighter is a master of striking skills, while Dzmitrychenka was known as a tough rival with a strong grappling technique, after earning an undefeated record in every village wrestling festival he attended in northern Việt Nam earlier this year.

During their bout, Dzmitrychenka immediately pulled Minh down to the floor and delivered ground-and-pound attacks in the first round, but he was not able to convert his advantage into a submission victory.

Phạm Công Minh (right) lands strong punches on Zakhar Dzmitrychenka. Minh went on to take a technical knockout (TKO) win.

Minh eventually escaped from the unfavourable position and fought back, showing why he won the world championship silver in wushu in 2019. His strong punches and knee strikes not only hurt Dzmitrychenka, but also earned him points from the jury.

Dzmitrychenka was exhausted after five minutes in the first half, appearing to be strongly affected by his 10kg weight cut, which ended just half a day before the bout. He evidently did not recover fast enough to face such a powerful champion.

After several minutes' rest, 'Thor' continued the match, but he could not change the situation. He took more heavy strikes from Minh, who was taller, faster and full of energy from the support of the crowds that filled the gymnasium.

The Belarusian and his crew decided to withdraw prior to the third round, and Minh was announced the winner with a TKO result.

Dzmitrychenka was sent to the hospital for a check-up, but his team said he was okay.

Another highlight of the night was the first-ever MMA Trio match format, which saw three people fight three others at the same time in 10 minutes. It was the first time this format has been seen in Việt Nam.

Athletes of both sides rushed into each other during their face-off session, thrilling the audience.

For the first time in Việt Nam, an MMA Trio match took place at the LION Championship.

During the MMA Trio fight, Nguyễn Nguyên Chương, Nguyễn Quốc Bảo and Luiz Finocchio of C88 Martial Arts Fitness & Yoga proved their mastery, gradually taking down Bạch Văn Nghĩa, Lê Quang Minh and Mahmoud Aboelkheir of The Champ MMA after five minutes.

In other matches, Nguyễn Mạnh Hải defeated Phan Huy Hoàng in the men's 60kg category; Phan Ngọc Hiếu won over Phạm Văn Quyền in the men's 56kg; Nguyễn Thành Quân beat Trịnh Đình Đức in the men's 65kg; Nguyễn Thành Thoan walked away with a win over Trần Huy Hải in the men's 56kg and Trần Vĩ Quang crushed Đinh Trung Hiếu in the men's 60kg.

Lê Nguyên Phúc took a TKO win beating Lăng Văn Nguyệt in the men's 56kg. The only KO win went to Phan Trọng Hiếu, who took down Nguyễn Quốc Huy in the men's 60kg.

The next LIONS Championship series will be held on June 14 in HCM City. VNS