Launching the first National Mixed Martial Arts Club Cup in the high-performance competition system

This afternoon (July 17), at the Bac Ninh University of Sports and Physical Education Gymnasium (Tu Son City, Bac Ninh), the 2025 National Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Club Cup will kick off.

This is the first mixed martial arts tournament in the high-performance sports competition system issued by the Vietnam Sports Administration. The tournament will play an important role in developing the movement from the local level. Through the tournament, scouts will have the closest look to choose potential athletes in mixed martial arts (MMA) for the national team levels.

The Organizing Committee had a working session with the tournament's referee team.

The 2025 National Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Club Cup has the participation of 160 athletes from 24 clubs from 14 provinces and cities across the country. Athletes compete in two age groups: 16-18 years old and over 18 years old.

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  The aspiration to reach international level of Vietnamese mixed martial arts

In particular, the age group from 16-18 will compete in the weight categories of 48kg, 52kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 77kg for men and 45kg, 58kg, 52kg, 56kg, 60kg for women. In the age group over 18, athletes will compete from 52kg to 84kg for men and from 48kg to 65kg for women.

At the professional meeting held on July 16, the Organizing Committee decided to add some important competition rules to suit the development of the MMA training movement across the country and ensure the safety of athletes such as: Athletes compete in a standard 7x7m octagonal cage (8 sides), using MMA gloves from 7-10 ounces (used to indicate the weight of the gloves, often used to distinguish different types of gloves for training and competition purposes); wearing elbow and shin guards.

For each age group, the Organizing Committee also sets out specific regulations. For the 16-18 age group, athletes are not allowed to use elbow strikes or forearm attacks, and are not allowed to use knee strikes to the opponent's head in any position. In addition, scissor wrestling techniques without prior body contact and overhead wrestling are also prohibited. For those over 18, elbow strikes in a lying position are prohibited.

Representative of the Mixed Martial Arts Federation presented the Decision to organize the tournament.

In addition, both age groups have prohibitions such as: heel breaking, knee kicking, or twisting/twisting/bending of the spine...

In 2025, MMA aims for two important goals: SEA Games 33 in Thailand, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG 6) in Saudi Arabia in 2025, along with the long-term goal in the following years: Asian Games (ASIAD 20) in Japan in 2026.

Since the beginning of 2025, the Vietnam Mixed Martial Arts Federation has been tasked with developing a plan to prepare athletes and select potential faces. Therefore, the 2025 National Mixed Martial Arts Club Cup is considered a prerequisite for the Federation to build a national MMA team, ready for future international tournaments.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/khoi-dong-giai-cup-cac-clb-vo-thuat-tong-hop-toan-quoc-dau-tien-trong-he-thong-thi-dau-thanh-tich-cao-20250717084823511.htm