DEL.ICIO.USFans hooked on Ultimate Fighting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, September 06, 2008
It was 30 minutes before the first drop of blood would spot the 30-foot wide octagonal canvas down on the floor, and already Philips Arena was filling with the new generation of fight fan.
The ultimate in ultimate fighting came to Atlanta Saturday night, UFC 88 it was called. And these people were ready, supplying the energy for a fight night unlike any other in the humble pugilistic history of this town.
Jason Getz / AJC
Ryo ‘Piranha’ Chonan (left) gets a fist in the face from Roan ‘Jucao’ Cameiro. Chonan won the fight by a split decision.
This was no small-time card in an out-of-the-way hall. All of Philips was turned into Thunderdome for as many who could fit into the building and for a Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view audience nationwide.
On Friday, about 2,000 fans had showed up just to watch these fighters strip down to their BVDs and weigh in. That’s more people than attend the usual local fight card on a typical weekend here.
Ultimate fighting, which combines boxing and wrestling with traces of other martial arts, has grown large by drawing from many quarters.
Down from Ringgold was carpenter Ed Logan, his long hair tucked beneath a top hat. His prodigious beard was painted bright red. The tie-dyed t-shirt, he said, was straight from the late 1960s. The American flag tie was of later vintage.
“My son turned me on to this in 1993 and I was hooked,” Logan said.
“It’s full contact, nothing fake. I love this sport.”
Ginger Barnes began following mixed martial arts fighting back when she was dating her soon-to-be husband Trae. “I wanted to show some interest in the same thing he was interested in. Then I fell in love with it.” Admittedly, she does shield her eyes occasionally, when the violence gets particularly intense.
“It’s pure. That’s the word I’d use to describe it,” said Trae, a tech type from Buford.
There have been all manner of quaint sporting structures erected inside Philips Arena. The penalty box for hockey roughnecks. The futuristic mid-air goal posts of arena football. Mike Woodson’s doghouse for the Hawk who doesn’t D up. But oddest by far is the eight-sided ultimate fighting ring, bordered by the chain link fence nearly six-feet high. It’s cage fighting gone mainstream.
Nine fights — each scheduled for three 5-minute rounds — broke out here Saturday night. One fight followed quickly on the heels of the preceding one. All with a loud rock backbeat and video features on the top fighters. High theater meets gut-level combat.
It was the longest sustained butt-kicking session in the building since the New York Rangers took out the Thrashers in the 2007 NHL playoffs.
Inside the octagon, the dramas played out in exhaustingly long rounds. You ask fan Aaron Brooks why he came up from Macon for this show, and he answers, “To watch people get beat up.” He got his wish.
Jason “The Punisher” Lambert got wrapped up in a lethal looking choke hold, and was rescued by the referee in the second round of his fight. On the other hand, Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch landed a decisive punch with his minimally gloved right hand in winning the next match. It was a mixed night for the menacing nickname.
Just before the pay-per-view part of the card, Kurt Pellegrino won a grueling decision, not before his florescent blond dye job was tinged red with his opponent’s blood.
“It’s modern day gladiators, man,” said fighter Karo Parisyan, a spectator for this card. “It’s a way of life.
As the UFC’s president Dana White constantly says, “Fighting’s in our DNA.” Atlanta was happy to get down to the most basic level Saturday.
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