Announcement: Legend Fighting Championship 2

Having scored an emphatic KO with Hong Kong on its January debut, the world’s fastest-growing sport - professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) - is back in the SAR, with Legend 2 on June 24 at Star Hall.

Tickets for Legend 2 will go on sale from Monday, May 10, and are priced at HK$880, HK$580 and HK$280, and are available from Hong Kong Ticketing, Tom Lee outlets and selected martial arts facilities.

The Legend 2 event card will feature the very best professional martial artists from the Asia-Pacific, including national champions from Hong Kong, China, Australia, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Mongolia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Considered by many to be the ultimate martial arts competition format, MMA allows athletes trained in martial arts such as Sanda (China), Brazilian Jiujitsu (Brazil/Japan), Judo (Japan), Karate (Japan), Muay Thai (Thailand), Boxing (Greece), Sambo (Russia), Tae Kwon Do (Korea) and Wrestling (Greece) to compete in a freestyle contest of interdisciplinary skills. Over Legend 2’s nine matches, the best overall martial artists will emerge.

As the popularity of MMA continues to grow around the world, throughout the Asia-Pacific and in Hong Kong, Legend is committed both to providing regular, professional MMA competitions, and to developing Hong Kong’s MMA community.

With that commitment comes the announcement of a local MMA initiative by Legend in the form of the Legend MMA Development Programme. Organisers have announced they will identify a number of the city’s top martial artists in traditional disciplines such as Kung Fu, Sanda, and Muay Thai. In conjunction with their existing training at their regular gyms, these athletes will be provided with supplemental interdisciplinary instruction, with the aim of making their MMA debuts at Legend 3, scheduled for September 2010.

June’s Legend 2 will see a host of exciting national champions making their Hong Kong debuts, as well as the return of Legend stars Kenny Yeung, Adrian Pang and Bae Myung Ho.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, the hometown of Bruce Lee, ‘forefather’ of MMA, Yeung developed his love for martial arts here before moving to Australia to further his education and training. At the inaugural Legend event, Yeung thrilled the home crowd by beating Mongolian Khuukhenkhuu Amartuvshin in two rounds. In June’s Legend 2, Yeung will again have the advantage of home support for his MMA encounter with Justin Lee of Chinese Taipei. Lee is no stranger to competing in Hong Kong, having taken second place in the Copa de Hong Kong Brazilian Jiujitsu championship in 2008. His Jiujitsu skills are complemented by his Muay Thai training, and he is undefeated in his three professional MMA bouts to date.

Australian-Chinese Pang, whose thrilling bout with Korean Nam Yui Chul in January ended in a majority draw decision, will be back. This time, fan-favourite Pang, who began studying Kung Fu at age 11, will match up against Korean Yu Woo Sung in what is expected to be epic match in one of Legend 2’s two co-main events.

The second co-main event will feature Australian Matt Cain against Korean Bae Myung Ho. Both athletes won their respective matches here in January, and June’s contest between the two will be one of the region’s most exciting welterweight tests to date.

MMA operates under a strict set of competition rules, and athletes compete in a timed freestyle contest, with the best martial artist emerging victorious. This unique form becomes the ultimate in martial arts – complex, yet adaptable and highly entertaining to watch.

Legend clips, images, news and background are all at www.legendfc.com.