Dave Leduc: Lethwei King - MRI Ambassador
Marshall Inu is delighted to announce that Dave “The King of Lethwei” Leduc has joined the MRI family as a brand Ambassador. Dave is a Professional Burmese Bareknuckle Fighter and the Undefeated 6-times Lethwei World Champion.
Dave began his career as an MMA practitioner in his native Canada, under the guidance of Sifu Patrick Marcil at Kung Fu Patenaude. From an early stage Leduc began training headbutt combinations and adding bare-knuckle bag sessions to his routine which would help his Lethwei style develop.
By 2013 Leduc, growing frustrated at not legally being able to practice Lethwei in Quebec and not getting a fight booked in Myanmar, made his first trip to Thailand; Myanmar’s eastern neighbor, where in 2014 he participated in the controversial Prison Fight where hardened criminals can fight against foreign fighters in a bid to commute their sentences.
The fight took place in the notorious maximum security Klong Pai Central Prison. Leduc faced Thahan Chor Chatchai who was an experienced Muay Thai fighter out of Lumphini Stadium serving a sentence for amphetamine trafficking. Leduc won by unanimous decision and was featured in a 2017 documentary named Prison fighters: 5 Rounds To Freedom narrated by Ron Perlman.
Leduc was invited to the 2016 Tiger Muaythai Tryouts and went on to win a spot on the professional fight team, along with teammate Dan Hooker (yes, that Dan Hooker). On August 21, 2016 he became the first non-Burmese fighter to win a Lethwei world title, beating Tun Tun Min at the Aung Lan Championship in Yangon. He’s not looked back since.
Later in 2016 he was to rematch Tun Tun Min and following his victory Leduc was awarded the Golden Belt, becoming the first non-Burmese fighter to hold the Lethwei open-weight world title. This was followed by five straight defenses in 2017 against Phoe Kay, Adem Yilmaz, Nilmungkorn Sudsakorngym, Cyrus Washington and finally Corentin Jallon for the 2017 Aung Lan Golden Belt Championship.
In late 2018 Leduc took part in a highly anticipated rematch with Tun Tun Min in Yangon where he retained his title and in 2019, despite a disagreement with the World Lethwei Championship over the modern Lethwei rules which eliminated the 2 minute knockout revival time out Leduc would sign an exclusive contract with the WLC which saw him relinquish three of the four Lethwei belts he held at that time.
Leduc would make his promotional debut in WLC 9: King of Nine Limbs in Mandalay, Myanmar against UFC veteran Seth Baczynski. Leduc destroyed Baczynski’s ear with a viciously placed elbow and finished him with punches to become the first Cruiserweight World Lethwei Championship winner.
Sometime following this win Leduc would appear on the Joe Rogan Experience where he discussed Lethwei and his life experiences and aspirations. Dave Leduc has also opened gyms around Myanmar and promotes Lethwei outside of Myanmar having founded Leduc Lethwei and brought the first team of Lethwei athletes from outside the country to compete at the Myanmar Lethwei World Championship.
Together MRI, and King Leduc want to continue to fight for fighters everywhere, to empower them to train to the best of their ability, unconstrained by financial or logistical limitations to become the next generation of champions. More than often Dave remembers what it was like starting out on his own; as he said in this 2018 interview:
“The best way to put it, the first three years I was on my own, paying for videos, paying for posters — people don’t know the amount of work I had to do to build a team around me for interviews. They were like, ‘Oh yeah, I know Dave’ but they don’t know the amount of work that goes into that”
At MRI we know; we are fighters, trainers, supporters; we are a global movement changing the lives of combat athletes where ever they may be. With Dave joining fellow fighters Ian Heinisch, Bryce Mitchell, Kevin Holland, Kelvin Gastelum, Kamaru Usman, Chael Sonnen, Bobby Green, Aljamain Sterling, Alexander Volkanovski and Nasrat Haqparast as an MRI Ambassador we gain a new dimension and a whole new sport becomes part of the Marshall Army!
