Combat sports will hit a milestone tomorrow (August 28) with the crowning of the first female world lethwei champion.
France’s Souris Manfredi will battle Spain’s Maisha Katz for the World Lethwei Championship (WLC) women’s bantamweight title at 6.30pm.
WLC was enjoying a blistering run before the pandemic, signing Canadian star Dave “The Nomad” Leduc who went on to defeat Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran Seth Baczynski in Mandalay.
Its return event, WLC: Hideout Battle, held at an undisclosed location (some readers may be able to discern its whereabouts from the publicity shot above), marks the growing global appetite for the head-butting bare-knuckle madness that is lethwei.
But the fact that a Myanmar fighter is not competing for the inaugural belt exposes the dearth of female competitors inside the country’s borders—and opens up the possibility for a game Myanmar contender to take the ancient Burmese martial art by storm.
Manfredi has a lethwei record of 2-0 while Maisha Katz is yet to compete in the sport, although she certainly has the credentials as a former WBO Muay Thai title challenger.
“We will make history by crowning the first female World Lethwei Champion as well as a full night of outstanding entertainment in the lethwei spectacle of a lifetime,” said WLC chairman Zay Thiha.
The event’s co-main features Myanmar fan favourite So Mi Ong Luktupfah return to action against former Max FC kickboxing world champion Artur Te of Uzbekistan in a bantamweight contest.
Also on the card are athletes from Germany, Myanmar, Mongolia, Belgium, Switzerland, Algeria and other countries.
WLC: Hideout Battle will broadcast on UFC Fight Pass, Canal+ and other broadcast partners across 100 countries. Visit here for more information.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS this! The biggest lethwei event in history! The very first women's World Lethwei Championship...
Posted by WLC - World Lethwei Championship on Saturday, August 15, 2020
