Passionate combat, fans make UFC rock

Marlin Levison, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Roger Huerta, left fought Kenny Florian right.

More than 15,000 cheered the full buffet of mixed martial arts drama in its Twin Cities debut.

By MYRON P. MEDCALF, Star Tribune

Last update: August 10, 2008 - 12:36 AM

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When Cheick Kongo finished Dan Evensen with a vicious ground assault in the first round, after dropping him with a mean right hand, the multitude rose and cheered thunderously. Evensen lay flat on his back, knocked into another decade, as doctors attended to him, but that's the kind of violent display that the announced crowd of 15,082 had come to the Target Center to see Saturday night.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, the top mixed martial arts organization in the country, mixed up its concoction of savagery, art, excitement and surprise for the first time in Minnesota for UFC 87.

St. Paul's Roger Huerta was greeted with the night's most explosive reaction. As he entered the cage, his hometown fans showered him with accolades and chants of "Huerta! Huerta!" Huerta's matchup against Kenny Florian, chosen as a potential fight of the night, didn't disappoint.

But Florian's technical skills proved to be too much for Huerta's more reckless style. Florian won a unanimous decision, after battering Huerta, who lost his first fight in the UFC, with a series of knees and elbows that helped him control the fight.

Former Gophers heavyweight Brock Lesnar won one for the locals, taking a third-round victory over Heath Herring.

As surprising as Huerta's performance in front of his hometown crowd was, the variety of fans that came out to watch was just as shocking.

Fiftysomethings sporting "Death Clutch" T-shirts, women cheering louder than their tough-guy boyfriends and the loyal flock of adrenaline-driven young males that have helped the UFC become a $1 billion company were all there.

One fan even sat with an IV hooked up to his veins, while he watched the fights in the front row.

Thousands of Canadians who cheered their countryman -- welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who scored a unanimous decision over Jon Fitch in the main event -- hours before he stepped into the cage were the most visible, waving Canadian flags throughout the arena. They were joined by some of the UFC's most popular fighters--Quinton (Rampage) Jackson, Sean Sherk, Matt Serra, Wanderlei Silva and B.J. Penn -- and celebrities such as Vikings defensive end Jared Allen and running back Adrian Peterson along with Laura Prepon, Donna from "That '70s Show."

In between fights, fans chased down the stars for autographs -- the fighters, not the football players.

The reaction for Ben Saunders, who bent Ryan Thomas' arm at a crucial angle and made him quit in the first fight of the night, set the tone for what became a solid card filled with the blood, chaos and skill that MMA's followers adore.

Aggressiveness was cheered -- vicious kicks to the face, knees to the chin and hooks to the jaw -- while any lull in the action was booed.

The new combative sports commissions' inexperience with a major MMA card was evident, too. As Chris Wilson elbowed Steve Bruno to the back of the head -- an illegal maneuver -- MMA insiders voiced their disapproval, while the ref stood by without making a move.

"Stand them up," one fan yelled, as two fighters grappled without much action. And multiple times fights should have been stopped but weren't. "Kill him!, Kill him!" one trainer yelled to his fighter, who was clearly losing on the scorecards.

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