Legacy strikes extension with HDNet (AXS) and new deal with Europa Expo – What does it all mean?

HOUSTON, TX, April 3, 2012 – In significant news for the Mick Maynard-run promotion, it was announced on last night’s Inside MMA on HDNet that Legacy Fighting Championship has come to an agreement on a multi-year extension for the broadcast deal that originally began with LFC 7 last July. Taking them into 2015 with HDNet (AXS), this new agreement begins with the Legacy FC 11 show scheduled for May 11th and set to feature names like Chad Robichaux, Robert Drysdale, and current champion Jorge “Macaco” Patino. As announced by Inside MMA correspondent Ron Kruck, this will be a busy year for Legacy as the promotion hopes to hold at least 6 pro and 6 amateur shows on the year in 2012. They hope to hold as many as 10 pro events in 2013.

In addition to the HDNet deal, Inside MMA also announced a deal between Legacy and the Europa Expo, one of the top bodybuilding and fitness expos in the country. Brokered by Maynard and Dollamur’s Scott Templeton, this deal will make Legacy the first MMA event to host a live event at any Europa Expo and will also make the MMA/BJJ presence only that much stronger with the convention already hosting a BJJ/sub-grappling tournament run by F2W/WGC’s Brett Boyce and Seth Daniels. The first show on that deal will be LFC 12, set for August 17^th.

It sure sounds like the tide keeps rising as Legacy FC seeks to push itself out into the vast unknown with these deals indeed.

Leading up to these contracts Legacy FC has gone through several growth stages as a promotion – from a first-time show hosting its first event in a college town dance hall back in 2007 to bigger and bigger things as they relocated to Houston and gradually made their way onto HDNet and the national radar. To date, Legacy FC has had 10 shows under the LFC banner along with 10 amateur events under the guise of the Legacy Amateur Series post their ‘Lonestar Beatdown’ days. Throughout it all, and not without lessons learned along the way, Legacy has enjoyed excellent hometown support at all levels – from fans attending events and gyms selling tickets to local personalities being more than willing to heap praise and coverage for the promotion. It goes without saying that Houston’s MMA Scene over the past couple of years has been, in large part, fueled by what Mick Maynard and crew have done through Legacy’s amateur and pro shows. Looking towards the future, that will surely continue to be the case but as with all good things, growth is inevitable as well.

What these long-term deals with HDNet (AXS) and the Europa Supershow mean whether everyone knows it or not is that Legacy FC will be aiming to join big-brother promotions like Bellator and Strikeforce on that upper-tier nationally instead of remaining content as a strong and stable regional force on the MMA scene. That means bigger fights, more notable fighters from different regions, and increased exposure plus all the good & bad that go along with it. All in all, it should be exciting times for the organization and its fan base on all fronts. As with the analogy earlier and as was the case with adventurers like Christopher Columbus in the olden days, there’s risk associated with chartering a voyage out into unfamiliar waters but the reward could be discovering and conquering America.

That’s a little on the facetious end but you get the point.

Here’s video from the original piece last night on the news from Inside MMA.