Update | Hong Kong’s Epic MMA Club shuts down leaving members in shock after liquidators called in
After high-end mixed martial arts club where boxing legend Manny Pacquiao trained shutters its Hong Kong gyms, members collect belongings and say they’ll miss the Epic community as they fill in liquidators’ claim forms
Epic MMA Club, Hong Kong’s first high-end mixed martial arts club, has closed its doors, leaving hundreds of members potentially out of pocket.
A notice from liquidators for Epic posted on Monday in a Facebook group chat said the company had gone into liquidation. The club’s operations director, Joey Lee, said by email the decision to cease operations “came about very suddenly”.
Clark Wang, who was among Epic members picking up their belongings from one of its three Central gyms on Tuesday – there is another Epic gym in Tung Chung – said: “We are all quite shocked. I trained last night from 6.30-7.30pm and when I got home at 8.30pm my WhatsApp lit up with messages.”
Wang, a member for almost five years, added: “It’s just really disappointing. The biggest blow is the loss of community.”
It was a comment fellow members echoed.
Que Dang said: “It’s the loss of community, not the loss of money, that’s most upsetting.” He speculated rising rents had played a part in the club’s closure, saying: “I don’t know the full story here at Epic but I do understand what rental prices are like and a place like this in Central ... well, it’s got to be a huge amount.”
