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Tran Quoc Tuan overcame powerful rivals to take the title of the international Muay Thai Rampage (MTR): One King Victory in Pride on September 18 in HCMC.
The competition was held in a new format of four-man tournament for the first time in Vietnam featuring eight athletes in two weight categories at the Saigon Sports Club.
Tuan, the WBC Muay Thai Vietnam champion, of Saigon Sports Club, defeated England's Mamouh Ali Mousa of Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA Club in the first three-round semi-final match of the 68kg class.
He went on to face Austrian Mochamed Emin Machaev of Soma Fight Club who beat Russian Mikhail Baranov of Tiger Muay Thai in the second semi.
In the final, Baranov attacked Tuan from the beginning with a view to set his domination. However, Tuan strongly resisted and fought back in the second and third rounds.
He was announced the winner of the category and pocketed a US$5,000 bonus in cash.
In the 60kg pool, Japanese Julian Leo Gravine of Elite Team beat Cypriot Ismail Al-Kadhi of Bangtam Muay Thai & MMA Club to take the award.
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Earlier, Gravine beat Vietnamese Nguyen Van Duc Nghia of SSC in the semi-final match and Kadhi won over Kyrgyz Timur Chuikov of Tiger Muay Thai Club.
In addition to the four-man competitions, there were six other matches between Vietnamese and foreigners.
A total of VND700 million ($29,000) were delivered to winning fighters.
The MTR: One King - Victory in Pride was organized by the HCMC Muay Thai Federation and Shadow Entertainment.
The organizers planned to hold a fiercer Muay Thai tournament by the end of this year. The pro event is promised a new exciting format and big bonuses to the competitors.
