In Vietnam, LION Championship - Lion mixed martial arts championship (English name: LION Championship) after 3 years of launching has received great attention from fans as well as experts. With many attractive matches, LION Championship is considered one of the opportunities for martial artists to compete in a professional model.

It is expected that in 2025, LION Championship will organize 9 events in the following cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City , Cam Ranh City (Khanh Hoa), Phu Quoc City (Kien Giang). Based on the actual conditions of athlete training units, professional martial arts training and the reality of the martial arts environment in Vietnam, VMMAF has approved the proposal to expand and supplement the LION Championship competition regulations with 4 new (experimental) formats including: LION MMA Striking, LION MMA Ground Fight, LION MMA Duo, LION MMA Gauntlet.

PHOTO: Organizing Committee

In 2025, MMA will continue to implement competition organization goals with three main spearheads: Developing a high-performance MMA competition system, focusing on the 2025 National Mixed Martial Arts Club Cup; Preparing forces to compete in tournaments under the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Association system, aiming to attend the 2026 Asian Games (ASIAD 20) and organizing competitions in the professional MMA LION Championship system. In particular, the 2025 National Mixed Martial Arts Club Cup was issued by the MMA Federation on December 3, 2024 and is expected to take place from June 23 to 29 in Hanoi, with competitions in 3 age groups and 9 weight classes.

Notably, on March 2, the Olympic Council of Asia officially confirmed that the 20th ASIAD (in Aichi - Nagoya, Japan) will host mixed martial arts competitions in two formats: modern MMA and traditional MMA with 6 weight classes for men and women. These are two formats that have been organized by the Asian MMA Association (AMMA) at the Asian MMA championships in Thailand (2023) and Cambodia (2024). The Vietnam Mixed Martial Arts Federation (VMMAF) has been a member of AMMA since its inception.

In 2023, the Vietnamese athletes participated in the Asian MMA Championship and performed very well, ranking 4th overall with 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal, and 2 bronze medals. Therefore, along with the 2025 National MMA Club Cup being included in the national sports competition program issued by the Department of Sports and Physical Training, MMA appearing at ASIAD 20 has shown a clear roadmap for high-achieving athletes in the future.