World Lethwei Championship


World Lethwei Championship is a Lethwei promotion based in Yangon, Myanmar.
The promotion revolutionized the millennia-old Burmese martial of Lethwei with new innovations to showcase it to the world. WLC events combine the historic traditions of Lethwei with live entertainment, pyrotechnics, enticing fighter entrances, music and dancers.
The first World Lethwei Championship event was held on in Yangon, Myanmar. The promotion has produced events all around Myanmar with shows being held in Hpa-an, Yangon, Naypitaw and Mandalay.

History

Formation

The success of ONE Championship's mixed martial arts events in Myanmar caught the eye of Zaykabar Company Vice-Chairman Zay Thiha, who decided to bring world-class Lethwei events the world. The businessman started Lekkha Moun Co in 2015 and the World Lethwei Championship was officially founded in August 2017 by Zay Thiha and investors, as a subsidiary of Lekkha Moun Co.

Inaugural event

In 2017, WLC signed Myanmar's top Lethwei fighters Tun Tun Min & Too Too. The first WLC event, titled, was held on 3 March 2017 at Mingalardon Event Zone in Mingaladon Township, Yangon, Myanmar.

Signing Dave Leduc

In March 2019, the promotion announced that it had signed Lethwei superstar Dave Leduc to an exclusive contract. The exclusive contract would make it impossible for him to defend his various titles from other promotions. Leduc held a press conference at the Karaweik Palace in Yangon to announce that he was vacating three of his four Lethwei world titles.
For Leduc's promotional debut at, the WLC signed former UFC welterweight Seth Baczynski. Leduc knocked out Baczynski with punches to win the inaugural [|WLC Cruiserweight Championship]. Since the event had a significant viewership success on UFC Fight Pass and won awards in Asia, Leduc received a $50,000 bonus for his performance and marketing efforts.

International expansion

While on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Dave Leduc announced that the organization had plans to host an historical event in the United States. At the pre-fight press conference for, WLC executive director Sein Phyo Hlaing revealed plans to expand globally in 2020, beginning with Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and the United States. As the promotion expands internationally, it plans to sign even more free-agents with recognizable names to compete in Lethwei.

ONE Championship partnership

In 2017, the WLC entered into a partnership to share fighters with the mixed martial arts promotion ONE Championship.

First female fight

In 2019, WLC announced it will commit to the female Lethwei division with a dedicated female match at every event. It held its first female fight after the announcement featuring France's Souris Manfredi and Eh Yanut from Cambodia at on 2 August in Mandalay, Myanmar. Manfredi became the first winner of the newly created women’s division by defeating Yanut.

Broadcast

was the first television channel to broadcast the WLC events live in Myanmar and were then delayed telecast in over 40 countries worldwide. Eleven Sports in Singapore aired WLC fights for the first time in April 2018.
In 2018, WLC signed a broadcasting deal with international broadcaster Canal+ for exclusive broadcasting rights in Myanmar.

UFC Fight Pass

In 2019, the WLC marked Lethwei history by signing a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and having its first Lethwei event broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass. was transmitted live on 2 August 2019.

Sponsorship

Sponsors of World Lethwei Championship have included companies such as Fuso, AGD Bank, Sky Net, UFC Fight Pass, Canal Plus Myanmar, SPEED Energy Drink, 5BB Broadband, Max Myanmar Group and Consumer Goods Myanmar Co.

Events

Champions

World Champions

Myanmar National Champion

World championship history

Cruiserweight Championship

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Dave Leduc
def. Seth Baczynski
Mandalay, Myanmar		August 2, 2019 days

Middleweight Championship

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Too Too
def. Michael Badato
Yangon, Myanmar		November 4, 2017818 days1. def. Vasyl Sorokin at on February 17, 2018
2 Naimjon Tuhtaboyev
def. Too Too
Yangon, Myanmar		January 31, 2020 days

Light Middleweight Championship

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Artur Saladiak
def. Saw Ba Oo
Naypitaw, Myanmar		June 2, 2018426 days
2 Sasha Moisa
def. Artur Saladiak
Mandalay, Myanmar		August 2, 2019 days

Light Welterweight Championship

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Antonio Faria
def. Saw Htoo Aung
Mandalay, Myanmar		February 22, 2019 days

Rules

The WLC uses the modern Lethwei rules also known as tournament rules first established in 1996 by the Myanmar Lethwei Federation.

Rounds

Each bout can be booked as a 3, 4 or 5 round fight with 3 minutes per round and a 2-minute break in between rounds. Championship bouts are 5 round fights with 3 minutes per round and a 2-minute break between rounds.

Judging

In the event that a bout goes the distance, it will go to the judges decision. The 3 judges will score the bout based on number of strikes per round. Fighters have a maximum of 3 knockdowns per round and 4 knockdowns in the entire fight before the fight is ruled a knockout.

Weight classes

Awards