Elbow him

   Some quick hits -- and icks and chokes -- from Bojangles Coliseum and the UFC card:

   The Octagon in which the fighters fight is 30 feet by 30 feet and the fence that encompasses it is six-feet high.

    There are four big screens set up so everybody can see everything.

    There are similarities to boxing. The public address announcer has announcer hair, wears a tuxedo and makes every syllable sound like five. Ring girls circle the Octagon before each round with a placard shaped like an Octagon that tells fans which round is coming up. Unlike their boxing counterparts, the ring girls don't wear high heels. They don't wear much else.

   Fans cheer for Brazil, for Japan, for the U.S. The card features fighters from each country. Some fights features boxing, some grappling. Every round is five minutes. Some rounds are thrilling. Some are intermidable. They're like a bad round in boxing, except instead of leaning against each other the fighters lie on top of each other.

   In boxing, fans yell "HIt him!" UFC fans yell "Choke him!" "Elbow him!" and "Kick him."

   The pace is deliberately fast. The idea is to keep the show -- which features 11 fights -- moving. And UFC does.

   Fans want big hits. They're like racing fans who want to see a wreck. Most rounds, they get one.