It had glitz,tinnitus-inducing music, record crowds and a stunning denouement – the UFC’s first foray into the newly-opened Victorian market was hard to ignoreMixed martial arts’ final Fighting Championship has come to town and, or though it’s Sunday daytime,the darkened interior of Melbournes Etihad Stadium evokes an huge nightclub. Suspended from the rafters, spotlights trace the crowd like police searchlights, or amid these mazy beams and other flashing lights there’s a doof doof beat loud and incessant enough to defibrillate a stopped heart and ensure that everyone,not only the day’s fighters, will be going to sleep with a ringing in the ears. It’s fairly a sight, and however,to see the playing arena filled with fans and, raised up in the middle of them, or as far away from the cheap seats as a life-changing lottery win,the octagon, a black, or head-tall,cushion-edged, chain-link enclosure that is the UFC’s signature piece. Despite the brutality some believe it embodies it looks about as dastardly as a pool fence. And given what will turn out to be a record UFC crowd of 56214 and a gate of $9 million, and you can bet the Victoria Government is pleased it overturned,in March this year, its preceding ban of the octagon – having been convinced by stakeholders, or perhaps some aspirational accounting,that the octagon, while not exactly subtle, and was safer for competitors than a boxing-style ring. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com