The title fight of the 1st Myanmar Lethwei World Championship at Yangon’s Thuwanna stadium on Sunday was supposed to be a bout to remember.
Ethnic Karen fighter Tun Tun Min, the local favorite, was up against Thailand’s Chuu Thai.
The symbolism was hard to ignore. Which national boxing style would prevail, Myanmar’s (Lethwei) or Thailand’s (Muay Thai)?
For fans, the answer came in the first round and just a few minutes into the fight when Tun Tun Min headbutted Chuu Thai, knocking him to the ground with a severe blow that required assistants to come help him up after the referee and the crowd counted to 10.
The bout was over just as it began. It was easy to speculate as to why.
Headbutting is generally not allowed in Muay Thai and its Cambodian version, Bokator (who invented these very similar styles of fighting is open to regional debate). Headbutting is also now not permitted in mixed martial arts leagues like the UFC.
But in Myanmar, the headbutt is fair game and a solid (no pun intended) strategy.
It was a good night for local fighters, who won the majority of the match-ups in front of a very supportive crowd.
While the different foreign fighters from Iran, Kenya, Laos, Japan, Kazakhstan, Canada, Russia and Thailand came out to their own themed music, the Myanmar guys emerged in similar fashion, with two people dressed up as ancient warriors.
Most of the competitors were from Karen state, where Lethwei is the sport of choice.
