Lê Văn Tuần celebrates his win in the men's 56kg class in the LION Championship 30 on April 19 in Hà Nội. — Photos courtesy of VMMAF

HÀ NỘI — Lê Văn Tuần defended his belt and his No. 1 place in the men's 56kg of the LION Championship (LC) mixed martial arts series, beating Trần Trọng Kim in a crazy night at Hà Nội's Xuân Đỉnh Gymnasium on April 18.

The main card of the LC 30 event saw Tuần, a younger and stronger fighter, give Kim almost no chance to resist his heavy punches and kicks in the first round. He also floored his rival and tried to finish the match early, but Kim made a smart escape and continued fighting back, making Tuần sweat with a leg lock at the end of the first round. 

Lê Văn Tuần (right) and Trần Trọng Kim during the main card match of the LION Championship.

But he failed to take the initiative in the next round, suffering a series of strong attacks from Tuần, who successfully locked Kim's arm to win the match, which was voted 'Fight of the night'.

While Tuần was celebrating his victory, Kim left the octagon in tears, saying that he would rest for a short time and would be back stronger.

"Martial arts is my greatest love, but I started practising a bit late. Recently, during training, I suffered a torn ligament. After this fight, I will take a break for a while, to recover and then come back," Kim said.

Earlier in the night, Dư Văn Thuận took a technical knockout win over Nguyễn Hợp Hải in the men's 60kg class.

His smart fighting style helped Thuận get Hải down on the floor several times in the first round, especially after a powerful calf kick in the second round that hurt Hải and ended the match with Thuận taking the win.

Meanwhile, Trần Ngọc Lâm secured an easy win in the men's 56kg when his rival Nguyễn Quốc Bảo suffered a deep cut to his forehead and sustained heavy bleeding.

Doctors were called to help, but they said Bảo couldn't continue fighting.

Đỗ Nguyễn Minh Quyền also took his first win at the LION Championship after defeating Lê Văn Vũ in another men's 56k bout.

Đỗ Nguyễn Minh Quyền is announced the winner of the match.

Asian Muay Thai champion Lê Công Nghị gave a strong performance against his younger rival Âu Văn Hiển, earning a submission win in the second round of the men's 52kg.

Also in this class, Nguyễn Hữu Nghĩa quickly controlled the match and applied a rear naked choke against Nguyễn Văn Thanh to add another submission win to his record.

Lê Hoàng Đức also ended his match with a rapid submission win against younger rival Trịnh Thành Công. His second win helped him to a berth in the semi-finals of the men's 52kg pool.

The first technical knockout win of the night went to Nguyễn Ngọc Phú, whose high kick was too strong for Nguyễn Thành Nam, who decided to surrender in the second round. — VNS