The year 2019 is the 3rd year in the history of the
World Lethwei Championship
World Lethwei Championship (also known as WLC) is a Lethwei promotion based in Yangon, Myanmar. The promotion brought to the millennia-old Burmese martial of Lethwei to UFC Fight Pass and showcased it to the world. The WLC events combined the hi ...
, a
Lethwei promotion based in
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
List of events
WLC 7: Mighty Warriors
''WLC 7: Mighty Warriors'' was a
Lethwei event held by
World Lethwei Championship
World Lethwei Championship (also known as WLC) is a Lethwei promotion based in Yangon, Myanmar. The promotion brought to the millennia-old Burmese martial of Lethwei to UFC Fight Pass and showcased it to the world. The WLC events combined the hi ...
on February 22, 2019 at the Mandalar Thiri Indoor Stadium in
Mandalay,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
's 2nd largest city.
Background
The event was the first in Lethwei history to be broadcast internationally on
UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Pass is an American subscription-based video streaming service owned by the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, that launched in December 2013.
History
Fight Pass showcases live and on-demand mixed martial arts, submission grappling, kickboxi ...
.
Newly signed to the WLC, Vietnamese
ONE Championship
ONE Championship (formerly ONE Fighting Championship) is a Singaporean combat sports promotion. Founded on 14 July 2011 by entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui, its events have featured mixed ...
fighter
Nguyễn Trần Duy Nhất
Nguyễn Trần Duy Nhất (born March 21, 1989) is a Vietnamese professional Muay Thai, Kun Khmer and Lethwei fighter.
Duy Nhất is a five-time World Muaythai Federation, WMF Muay Thai world champion and four-time Southeast Asian Games, SEA G ...
made his debut and defeated
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
's fighting star Pich Mtes Khmang who was at his second Lethwei appearance.
The co-main event featured Myanmar fighter Shwe Yar Mann who had an incredible year 2018 where he went undefeated in 10 fights.
He took on
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
Sasha Moisa
Sasha Moisa ( Ukrainian: Саша Мойса; born September 10, 1994) is a Ukrainian Muay Thai and Lethwei fighter currently signed to ONE Championship and World Lethwei Championship. He is the current WMC Super welterweight World Champion in ...
who also had an amazing year winning two multi-men tournaments in Thailand. In the main event, the recently crowned Light Welterweight Myanmar National Champion Saw Htoo Aung faced
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
's Antonio Faria for a chance to trade his silver belt for an opportunity at the gold belt. Faria had already won two fights in World Lethwei Championship and was moving up a weight class for this bout. The event crowned the first Light Welterweight World Lethwei Champion when Faria won by 2nd-round knockout over Saw Htoo Aung.
Results
WLC 8: Karen Spirit
''WLC 8: Karen Spirit'' was a
Lethwei event held by
World Lethwei Championship
World Lethwei Championship (also known as WLC) is a Lethwei promotion based in Yangon, Myanmar. The promotion brought to the millennia-old Burmese martial of Lethwei to UFC Fight Pass and showcased it to the world. The WLC events combined the hi ...
on May 5, 2019 at the Chit Tu Myaing Park in
Hpa-an,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
Background
The event was the first major Lethwei event held in Kayin State The
Kayin State
Kayin State ( my, ကရင်ပြည်နယ်, ; kjp, ဖၠုံခါန်ႋကၞင့်, italics=no; ksw, ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်, ), also known by the endonyms Kawthoolei and Karen State, is a state of Myanmar. The ...
is the epicentre for Lethwei culture. The sport is practiced in all of Myanmar, but it is held in higher regard among the
Kayin, one of the
135 ethnic groups in Myanmar. The WLC brought the
modern Lethwei rules for the first time to the State.
In the main event,
Mite Yine
Mite Yine ( my, မိုက်ရိုင်း; born April 26, 1992) is a Burmese Lethwei fighter who competes in the World Lethwei Championship's Featherweight division. He is a former Lethwei Golden Belt champion, having won the title in ...
returned to action against Cambodia's Morn Samet who stepped up as a late replacement for Shahmarzade Amil.
Myanmar's National Champion Kyaw Zin Latt replaced Soe Lin Oo in the co-main event against the Muay Thai star from Germany, Burutlek Petchyindee Academy. Injuries had hounded the headline fighters at the event, which prompting a re-shuffle of the card.
Mite Yine who is a native son of Kayin, won the gold at
2013 SEA Games
The 2013 Southeast Asian Games (, ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and commonly known as Naypyitaw 2013, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event took place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from 11 to 22 December ...
and won the coveted Lethwei Golden Belt twice.
The sole women's match was between ethnic
Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
Naw Phaw Law Eh and Vietnam's Huynh Ha Huu Hieu. Naw Phaw Law Eh also known as 'Eh Eh' previously won gold medals
SEA Games
The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...
in judo and a bronze in a regional wrestling competition.
Thway Thit Aung faced
Tiger Muaythai's David McCarthy from
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Mite Yine won by split decision.
Results
WLC 9: King of Nine Limbs
''WLC 9: King of Nine Limbs'' was a
Lethwei event held on August 2, 2019 at the Mandalar Thiri Indoor Stadium in
Mandalay,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
Background
In March 2019, the WLC announced that it had signed Lethwei superstar, undefeated Lethwei world champion
Dave Leduc
Dave Leduc (born 13 December 1991) is a Canadian Lethwei fighter who competes in the World Lethwei Championship, where he is the former WLC Cruiserweight World Champion. He is also the undefeated Openweight Lethwei World Champion under tradit ...
to an exclusive contract.
The exclusive contract would make it impossible for him to defend his various titles.
Leduc held a press conference at the
Karaweik Palace in
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
to announce that he was
vacating tree of his four Lethwei world titles.
For Leduc's debut, the promotion signed former
TUF competitor and
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
welterweight
Seth Baczynski
Seth Baczynski (born October 26, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional since 2006, Baczynski has formerly competed for the UFC, and was a cast member ...
.
Baczynski felt confident leading up to the fight because he had more fighting experience than Leduc.
The bout was for the inaugural Cruiserweight World Lethwei Championship. In the co-main event, incumbent Light Middleweight World Lethwei Champion Artur Saladiak faced Ukrainian Champion
Sasha Moisa
Sasha Moisa ( Ukrainian: Саша Мойса; born September 10, 1994) is a Ukrainian Muay Thai and Lethwei fighter currently signed to ONE Championship and World Lethwei Championship. He is the current WMC Super welterweight World Champion in ...
.
Moisa became the rightful challenger to the title after the strong statement he made in his Lethwei debut knocking out Myanmar star Shwe Yar Man at
WLC 7. During the fight, Moisa swarmed Saladiak with precise right hands and dropped Saladiak on several occasions, winning the Light Middleweight title in a unanimous decision victory. The event also featured
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
's Souris Manfredi and Eh Yanut from Cambodia
and Manfredi became the first winner in the newly created women's division by defeated against Eh Yanut. In the main event, Dave Leduc landed a solid elbow which exploded Bacynski's left ear.
He then knocked out Baczynski with punches to win the inaugural Cruiserweight World Lethwei Championship.
Since the event had a significant viewership success on
UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Pass is an American subscription-based video streaming service owned by the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, that launched in December 2013.
History
Fight Pass showcases live and on-demand mixed martial arts, submission grappling, kickboxi ...
and won awards in Asia,
Dave Leduc received a $50,000 bonus for his performance and marketing efforts.
Fight Card
WLC 10: Fearless Tigers
''WLC 10: Fearless Tigers'' was a
Lethwei event held on October 4, 2019 in
Mandalay,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
Background
This event was done in partnership with the Mandalay-based Lethwei promotion Great Tiger Group, who promoted five bouts after the live international broadcast on
UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Pass is an American subscription-based video streaming service owned by the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, that launched in December 2013.
History
Fight Pass showcases live and on-demand mixed martial arts, submission grappling, kickboxi ...
. The main event for the international broadcast featured Lethwei World's 2019 breakthrough fighter Thway Thit Win Hlaing
against Thai-German Muaythai champion Burutlek Petchyindee Academy, both previously undefeated in World Lethwei Championship.
Thway Thit Win Hlaing has been on a winning streak by defeating
Saw Ba Oo, Shwe Yar Mann and Shan Ko in the first three WLC events, before taking a brief hiatus. Burutlek Petchyindee Academy made an instant impact in the world of lethwei when he knocked out former light welterweight champion Kyaw Zin Latt with one punch in his debut. That impressive performance has won him a date against Thway Thit Win Hlaing.
In the co-main event, Nicola Barke was making her Lethwei debut against Bianka Balajt from
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
which she won by unanimous decision.
In the main event, Thway Thit Win Hlaing landed an overhand right to knockout Burutlek Petchyindee Academy
to continue his undefeated streak.
Fight Card
See also
*
2019 in ILFJ
References
{{reflist
World Lethwei Championship events
2019 in Lethwei
2019 in kickboxing
2019 in Burmese sport