Fans whose devotion must rank closer to the rabid than merely avid end of the spectrum had been snaking their way around the Etihad Stadium concourse for a couple of barely-daylight hours, willing members of queues of fizzing anticipation, when the gates opened. They filed inside and sat to behold the object of their Saturday morning delight - a stage, empty but for a set of scales.
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At 9.04am the stage welcomed its first occupants - UFC president Dana White; commentator Joe Rogan; a couple of matchmakers; a ring announcer; two women wearing little more than their smiles. Then came the fighters.
One by one they emerged from behind a huge black curtain, mounted the steps, and proceeded to take off their clothes. For some this was a laborious process of untying shoelaces, peeling off socks, unzipping hoodies, removing shirts and tracksuit pants, sometimes headphones and sunglasses too. The smiling women, stationed for maximum ornamental effect, applauded enthusiastically.
The striptease lay bare a fact that shouldn't surprise: mixed martial artists have incredible bodies. Becoming a veritable Swiss Army Knife of athletic combat demands unique training, toil that leaves stomach muscles presenting more as jagged edges than ripples. Apart from the 120kg heavyweights, who had the sort of pub bouncer presentation common with fighting's big boys, the contestants in the 13 bouts that will make up Sunday's UFC 193 looked not so much cut as scarred. Read all about it.