Tag Archives: Legend
Legend Fighting Championship 5 at City of Dreams Macau
Last month I photographed the return of one of the increasingly popular MMA events in Asia – Legend Fighting Championship 5 at the City of Dreams in Macau. The event was the first of what will be several upcoming Legend MMA fights in Macau after the first four events were held in Hong Kong. The show sold out which I think is great news for fight fans here – perhaps indicative of MMA in the region finding a new home in Macau.
Fight week was busy for me as usual, starting with a day long portrait shoot in Macau with the fighters. On the day of the event, I grabbed some environment shots of the arena a few hours early to document some of the behind-the-scenes and setup. Then, minutes before the fight it was on to our on-location studio to photograph the ring girls (tough job!), and then of course the 9-fight card itself. After the final bell we did some quick edits for press and media photos before catching our late night ferry back to HK. Hard work for me and my assistant but exciting and well worth it when I think from the perspective of documenting an evolving sport in one of the most rapidly growing regions of the world.
Here are some highlights from Legend 5:
Ring Girls Cupid, Gloria, Tiffany and Shannie
The ring a few hours before going live
Behind-the-scenes production
Hong Kong’s Vincent Siu
NZ’s Gareth Ealey throws a nasty elbow to Korea’s “Hungry” Yang
Knee from Yusuke Kawanago just misses Mark Striegl, but lands on the ground
Legend veteran Li Jingliang utilizing the jab versus Alex Niu
Ground and pound between South Korean Jo Nam Jin and Chinese Yao Honggang
Posted in events, MMA, portraits
Also tagged City of Dreams, HK, hong kong, macau, MMA
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Legend 4: Mixed-Martial Arts in Hong Kong
Anyone that knows me probably knows that I am MMA superfan, and I watch the UFC religiously. It always makes me laugh a little when I think about it, because those that know me also know that I couldn’t wouldn’t hurt a fly. Anyways, the reason for the blog post is that Legend Fighting Championship is returning to Hong Kong with Legend 4 on January 27. You may have seen posters around the MTR featuring photos by yours truly =)
So as a photographer, of course this is great because I get to shoot another awesome event that I love to watch. As a fan, its great because to me its an indication of consistent mixed-martial arts promotion here in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong seems to have a long history of muay-thai and kickboxing events, I’ve recently noticed more and more MMA events in areas outside of Japan, like Singapore, Macao and Hong Kong. Unfortunately, these events has been plagued with cancellations – most infamously the Fury event last October and most recently the Deep event earlier this month.
Legend on the other hand seem to be doing a good job at attracting a bigger and bigger crowd in each subsequent event. I also look at their deals struck with Affliction Clothing and US pay-per-view as notable milestones. They however have not been impervious to fighter injury, with welterweight belt contender Rod MacSwain, replacing Bae Myung Ho who hurt his shoulder in training. Nevertheless, very much looking forward to shooting Legend 4 at AsiaWorld-Expo!
Here are some shots from Legend 3, held last September 2010.
Helloooooo ring girls
Legend Fighting Championship 1: Weigh-ins
Tonight I’ll be headed back to HITEC in Kowloon Bay to photograph Hong Kong’s first mixed-martial arts event ever, Legend Fighting Championship. As a huge MMA fan having followed the UFC from my days back in the states, I’m super excited for the sport to takeoff in HK.
Yesterday the weigh-ins took place at the Holiday Inn Golden Mile in Tsim Sha Tsui. The event was not without its share of weight-cutting drama and crazy mean square-offs. Adrian Pang actually raised his arms in victory while staring down his opponent. Thats some bad blood right there!
Here are some shots from the profile shot sessions and the weigh-ins itself.
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I'm a professional photographer based in Hong Kong. I specialize in wedding, portrait and event photography.
You can contact me at:
+852 9172 9101, or
info [at] kennethlimphotography.com
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