Mixed martial arts

Zhou Luo (in blue) takes Hà Thế Anh down in the men's MMA Pro 68kg fight of the LION Championship 28 on November 8 in An Giang Province's Phú Quốc Island. Photos courtesy of VMMAF

 AN GIANG — Despite his best efforts, Hà Thế Anh suffered a submission defeat in the main-card match of the LION Championship 28, the largest national mixed martial art series, on November 8 in An Giang Province's Phú Quốc Island.

Thế Anh from Việt Nam’s Raptor MMA Club opened the men's MMA Pro 68kg fight with a series of low kicks that kept Zhou Luo from China’s Enbo Fight Club at a distance, preventing him from closing in and launching his attacks.

The Vietnamese had a chance to finish the fight early when Zhou slipped and fell to the mat after a high kick, allowing him to close the distance. The Raptor MMA representative seemed to have the upper hand, but Zhou quickly responded with a precise kick that threw him off balance.

Zhou immediately held off his rival and used his deadly rear-naked choke, forcing Thế Anh to tap out and end the match just halfway through the first round.

"I was a little disappointed with my performance. My apologies that I couldn't win as promised, but I will still be making a donation to people in need," said Thế Anh after his match.

"It is a loss, but I gain my own lessons for the future. Thank you all for supporting me."

Meanwhile, Zhou was really pleased with his win, appreciating Việt Nam as a pleasant country and Phú Quốc as an extremely beautiful island.

He also praised the LC28 as a great event with a very enthusiastic and crazy audience.

"Flying from China here, it is not really easy for me, but thanks to all for cheering and encouraging me for this win," said Zhou.

"Thanks Thế Anh for accepting a bout with me. You are not bad at all, but a strong rival. Being a fighter is not an easy job, I hope he will keep working and get stronger."

Earlier in the evening, the MMA Duo match featured the mixed pair of Brazilian Claudio Cautinho and Vietnamese fighter Nguyễn Nguyên Chương from C88 Martial Arts, facing against the Chinese duo Shen Long and Shama Yige of the renowned Yunnan LiJunLong Fight Club. The bout ended in a draw – the first ever in LION Championship history.

Both sides exchanged their strong punches and kicks but none of them could dominate the fight until the final seconds.

The first MMA Duo match ends in draw.

"If I have the chance to fight in this MMA Duo again, I will definitely take down the Brazilian. I am not happy with the result. I haven't fought my best yet. If the rematch is organised, I promise that he will not touch a hair on my head," said Shen.

Shama agreed with his teammate saying: "We just fought for 10 minutes with no time-out. I haven't been comfortable with the fight because I haven't shown what I can.

"Yes, Chương challenged my tactics. He threw away my plans, but I also think that I will do everything better if we meet them again."

In the opening match, Nguyễn Thành Thoan showed his superior performance against Huỳnh Ngọc Tín in the men's MMA Pro 56kg. He continuously threw strong and accurate punches, making his opponent stagger and unable to react. After 4 minutes and 30 seconds, the referee was forced to stop the match and announced Thoan as the knockout winner. He decided to donate his bonus to the victims of the recent storms across Việt Nam.

Đỗ Phúc Hậu floored Phạm Anh Đức in the second round in the men's MMA Pro 65kg. Lê Minh Hoàng earned a technical knockout win against Đinh Chí Công in the men's MMA Pro 60kg. Chayut Rojanakat of Thailand was announced the winner after he technically knocked out Gleb Ovcharov of Russia in the men's MMA Pro 70kg.

Chayut Rojanakat of Thailand punches Gleb Ovcharov of Russia in the men's MMA Pro 70kg.

At the end of the event, the organising committee auctioned the painting 'Girl and the Fan' by lacquer artist Bùi Hữu Hùng, which was brought for VNĐ3.2 billion (US$122,000), with VNĐ500 million sent to people affected by floods and the Việt Nam MMA Development Fund.

LC29 will be held next month in Hà Nội. VNS