LION Championship 23: The championship belt changes hands

On the evening of June 14, the matches of LION Championship 23 took place at Tay Ho Stadium (Hanoi). The highlight of the event was the title match between champion Pham Van Nam and challenger Le Van Tuan.

Considering the strength correlation before the match, Pham Van Nam is highly appreciated as he has participated in many domestic tournaments with impressive achievements such as the 2023 Club Championship Gold Medal, the 2022 National Sports Festival Silver Medal...

Le Van Tuan's kick made Pham Van Nam lose his ability to fight back.

On the international stage, Pham Van Nam made a strong impression when he won 2 victories at ONE Championship (2024) and Master of Fights Championship (2023). The reigning champion also successfully defended his belt against Asian Wushu gold medalist Dinh Van Huong.

Although he was at a disadvantage compared to his opponent, Le Van Tuan entered the match very confidently, the two fighters quickly brought the match to a stalemate. In the decisive situation, Le Van Tuan made the whole Tay Ho stadium explode with an accurate high kick. Le Van Tuan's shin made Pham Van Nam dizzy, immediately, the challenger added a series of punches that made Van Nam lose consciousness, winning the overall victory. The 56kg weight class championship belt officially changed hands.

Le Van Tuan officially won the 56kg weight class championship.

Le Van Tuan's victory helped him win the first championship title in his career after three LION Championship seasons, officially ending Pham Van Nam's hope of holding the belt permanently.

In the second match, “veteran” Tran Trong Kim continued to show his excellent standing skills and easily won against young talent Bui Dinh Khai. Despite using pressure tactics from the very beginning, Dinh Khai failed to achieve his goal and quickly ran out of strength.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Trong Kim continuously performed accurate kicks, causing Dinh Khai to gradually lose the ability to fight back. Everything officially ended with a victory for Trong Kim after the referee intervened to stop the match at the end of the 3rd round.

Results of the remaining matches:

Quàng Văn Minh defeated Mikhail Gritsanenko (score not unanimous): The drama of the match was heightened from the first round after Gritsanenko tore Quàng Văn Minh's eye. The boxer from Sơn La also responded with a stunning punch at the end of the round. Two more intense rounds witnessed each of the two boxers' exchanges, Quàng Văn Minh won by a narrow margin on the judges' scorecards.

Karina Veis defeated Dao Thi Nhu Quynh (TKO): The only women's match of the event between Dao Thi Nhu Quynh and Russian fighter Karina Veis ended in an equally surprising scenario. It seemed that she could overwhelm Karina with her Jujitsu expertise on the mat, but Nhu Quynh, from a situation where she was out of breath in the second round, made a mistake in taking her down, giving Karina the opportunity to end the match with a series of punches in the second round.

Nguyen Phu Thinh defeated Huynh Ngoc Tin (TKO):   Both sides entered the match at full speed in the first round, but Phu Thinh had good counterattacks, from there controlling the game, continuously pounding his opponent and winning by lightning TKO.

Bui Van Hung defeated Le Quang Minh (TKO): Despite being constantly in the underdog position and having to endure heavy blows from Le Quang Minh throughout the match, Van Hung suddenly turned on his heel, launching consecutive punches that forced Quang Minh to accept defeat.

Adel Iabbarov defeated Pham Kim Quoc Huy (Squad choke): Both sides tried to take their opponents to the floor, but only Adel Iabbarov with his experience and better physical strength was able to do it. Having a good position, Iabbarov applied a rear-naked choke, forcing Quoc Huy to admit defeat.

Dinh Van Huong defeated Jhaymie Gayman (Gayman surrendered): In the remaining international friendly match under MMA Striking rules, Dinh Van Huong only needed one round to make his opponent Jhaymie Gayman give up.

Nguyen Van Lam defeated Tran Quang Khai (Knockout): Tran Quang Khai took the initiative, constantly moving to close the distance. However, Nguyen Van Lam quickly took the upper hand with powerful kicks, forcing his opponent to retreat to defend. Van Lam accelerated with a series of precise combos, knocking his opponent down twice before delivering the decisive blow, winning by knockout in the first round.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/lion-championship-23-dai-vo-dich-doi-chu-20250615104650853.htm