Legend FC: how Conor McGregor’s manager is reviving a dormant Hong Kong MMA promotion
- ‘I think this can get very big,’ Audie Attar says as Legend prepares for December 28 show in Macau
- Legend wants to determine best fighters in China – and they’re not afraid of stiff competition from UFC and One Championship
What do UFC stars Li Jingliang, Kai Kara-France and Robert Whittaker all have in common? In the earlier chapters of their careers, they all competed for Hong Kong-based fight promotion Legend Fighting Championship.
If you haven’t heard of Legend, don’t worry. That doesn’t make you a bad fight fan. The company closed its doors in 2013, following a run of 11 successful events in Hong Kong, Macau, China and Malaysia. It lay dormant until 2018 when it relaunched with new owners and leadership.
Today, Legend is helmed by chairman Matt Kwok, who produced 10 of the promotion’s original 11 events. He always hoped to bring Legend back. It was just a question of waiting for the right moment.
“We acquired the property knowing that we would incubate it and, with the right opportunity, relaunch,” Kwok told the Post.
“The previous owners did a really good job of growing the brand, but I believe they were about five years too early. MMA was not huge in Asia, it wasn’t big in China, and they were facing an uphill battle.
“Now, with the market maturing, there is a lot more awareness and visibility for MMA as a sport in Asia and specifically China.”
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Since the relaunch, Legend has promoted two successful events, in Guangzhou and Macau, with a third planned for December 28, also in Macau.
Legend is also benefiting from the leadership of board member Audie Attar, the chief executive of Paradigm Sports Management and the manager behind Conor McGregor and a number of other huge stars.
Attar’s involvement with Legend, like so many great things, began with a conversation over good food.
“It was just an idea,” he told the Post. “It was late-night; it was Sichuan food at the office with Matt and myself and a couple of my other staff members.”
Attar was familiar with Legend before he joined the board and appreciative of what the promotion accomplished in its early years. What really helped convince him to join the project, though, was the feedback of UFC welterweight contender “The Leech” [Li Jingliang], one of his star clients and a veteran of the Legend cage.
“One of the things I did when I was evaluating the opportunity was I consulted Jingliang,” Attar said. “I wanted to get his opinion. I wanted to understand how he felt about the promotion and what it did for his career. Jingliang convinced me there was an opportunity to fill a void and really make a significant impact.”
Of course, there will be competition from big, established players. The UFC is making a huge push on to Chinese soil, with its US$13 million state-of-the-art Shanghai Performance Institute. Singapore-based martial arts powerhouse One Championship is also making waves in the region.
“There are a lot of brands that are trying to take over the world,” Kwok said. “From our standpoint, that’s played out.
“Our initial focus is to make sure we are able to get China right. The Greater China area is where we’re focused.”
This focus on China means local events featuring local fighters.
“Whether it’s Chongqing or Beijing or Shanghai or Xian, there’s just so many dynamic places in China,” Kwok said. “From our standpoint, we’re trying to build a fan base.
“It’s going to be Chinese athletes against Chinese athletes, so we can determine who is the best. Our goal is to get our content out there to show China, then the world, how great these athletes [on our roster] are.”
Attar added: “I think this can get very big. It's all about making sure that we deliver not only the best athletic competitions in terms of match-ups, but also a very good product from a live event broadcast standpoint.”
