MMA is a new martial arts competition formula that has been introduced to Vietnam for about 5-6 years. It was also the time when MMA began to appear many fighters to practice in Vietnam. After the MMA Cup of Vietnam 2021, the first tournament called Lion Championship appeared in 2022.
At the time of launch, Lion Championship creates a very strong communication effect, along with the number of boxers involved. Many leading faces of Vietnamese martial arts such as Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat, Tran Quang Loc and Pham Ba Hoi have participated in the competition, helping the tournament widely promote.
But since then, the scale of the tournament, as well as the number of boxers attending Lion Championship has not increased. Some weight classes of the tournament still have many boxers participating in the competition such as 56kg male and 60kg male. But in the remaining weight classes, especially the playground for women, the number of athletes is very small.
According to the latest rankings of Lion Championship, many weight classes of the tournament were only 2-3 boxers ranked. That is the case in 70kg male (2 people), 84kg male (4 people), 60kg female (3 people), 56kg of women (3 people). That made the organizers almost unable to organize class assignments, as well as the championship for the fighters.
One of the reasons, which is said to make the number of boxers withdraw from Lion Championship, is because Vietnamese martial arts are entering the “peak” stage. This is the time when high achievements enter the start, so most boxers must prioritize the managing unit. However, this information is somewhat incorrect.
In the first year of Lion Championship (2022), this is the year there are many large and small tournaments of high -performance sports in Vietnam: National Sports Festival, SEA Games taking place in Vietnam, and many other tournaments. However, the number of boxers participating in the competition was very large.