Columnist Dean Juipe: UFC: wild, but is it toned down?

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Most of us have seen a street fight or two in our day, and we all know they're downright gruesome. Put two guys together with a genuine dislike for each other and at least one of them is going to get seriously hurt.

In my experience, there are no exceptions: Street fights are violent and blood will be spilled.

So it strikes me as odd, if nothing else, that two extremely large and physically fit men can take part in something called the Ultimate Fighting Championship -- which has a card scheduled for Friday night at the MGM -- and, to date at least, the hospitals aren't overrun by the wounded.

These are five-minute, five-round fights between athletic men who aren't softening their blows by wearing boxing gloves; they wear "grappling gloves," which cover the knuckles but leave the fingers free.

And while it's not quite "anything goes," the anything-goes motif is clearly at play and is a great part of this so-called sport's appeal.

But given the lack of injuries and the shortage of actual bloodshed, an outsider has a natural suspicion that these matches are fixed. How could they not be, when two behemoths are pounding on and kicking at each other and neither one suffers so much as a bloody nose?

But the UFC can't be as similar to professional wrestling as it looks from a distance, for the simple reason that the fights are sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and betting lines are posted in the sports book. So the fights are legit, at least in theory.

"Ten years ago we never would have let this sport come here," NSAC executive director Marc Ratner said Tuesday. "Back then there were no rules and no judging, but now we have 'unified rules' that prevent such things as kicking a man when he's on the ground."

Owned by local casino magnates Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the UFC has been a money loser since they purchased the organization two years ago. But they're hoping to recoup a few bucks Friday, as a capacity crowd of 14,000 is expected and another 50,000 may watch on pay-per-view as Tito Ortiz and former pro wrestler Ken Shamrock meet in the main event.

Ortiz is a minus 180 betting favorite, with Shamrock a plus 140.

"The Fertittas have lost oodles and oodles of money on this thing, and I don't really think it's all that popular," said a predictable voice of dissent, boxing promoter Bob Arum. "From what I've seen, it's boring and absurd."

It does seem that way, although the UFC rules were amended a year ago to eliminate the tediousness of one man getting the other in a hold while refusing to advance the action or the fight. But fights can still end with a "tap out," which is, in effect, a surrender.

Assuming that surrender isn't orchestrated in the dressing room takes a good deal of confidence in the NSAC and the state gaming commission, neither of which would tolerate the slightest hint of fraud.

Which leads us to believe that despite the UFC marketing itself as violent and unruly, it isn't quite the all-out war it is alleged to be. Because if it was a case of "no holds barred" the ambulances would be running nonstop between the arena and the University Medical Center.