World Lethwei Championship: A Rising Global Promotion

Do you know when I first realized that there was something big brewing over at World Lethwei Championship? 

When they landed on UFC Fight Pass.

Scrolling through the library of the premier digital platform in combat sports today, I saw a post about WLC. Intrigued, I clicked the button and fell into several hours worth of exciting and incredible action.

While not very knowledgable on the sport at the time, it almost made it even more exciting because I had no idea what was going to happen next. 

Thrilling knockouts, crazy battles and exciting pre- and post-fight features made me a quick fan of the WLC and I had to know more.

The bareknuckle fighting organization is at the top of the game today both locally and around the world. Based out of Yangon, Myanmar, the WLC has added some elite talent from all around the planet.

It would have been easy for officials within the WLC to just stick to the “old ways” of the fight game. But they did not do that. 

Instead, they paired up cutting-edge technology in both media and entertainment with the historic traditions of the Burmese martial art known as lethwei to give fans a memory they will cherish forever.

The WLC made its debut on the big stage in 2017 and quickly signed two of the biggest names in the sport in Tun Tun Min and Too Too. That March was WLC 1: The Great Beginning. 

Three events total took place that calendar year with three more in 2018.

In 2019, WLC made major headlines by adding in superstar Dave Leduc to the fold. At WLC 9: King of Nine Limbs, Leduc stopped UFC veteran Seth Baczynski to claim the inaugural WLC cruiserweight championship.

That same year was the signing of a deal with UFC Fight Pass to air events live on the digital platform. Allowing fans around the world to see WLC up close and personal was a hit and more and more major sponsors have followed since.

Before the coronavirus pandemic silenced the sports world, WLC 11: Battlebones went down in January. The promotion will return with WLC 12: Hideout Battle on August 28 and you can bet I will be firing up the Roku to watch.