ATLANTA >> The one thing that kept popping up driving along I-20 after leaving the Masters during the third round and arriving at UFC 236 early Saturday night was David Byrne’s old-time lyric: “And you may ask yourself, Well … how did I get here?”
There wasn’t much time to ponder that question entering State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta to watch local boy Max Holloway try on another belt that didn’t quite fit. The excitement generated by Tiger Woods and Co. at Augusta National earlier on moving day had the patrons straining the ropes as they tried to catch a glimpse of arguably the greatest golfer this game has ever seen.
Those fortunate enough to hang around late Friday after a half-hour weather delay on Bobby Jones’ rain-soaked course were treated to quite a show by Woods, who looked like his former self as he played the back nine well enough in the late afternoon to draw within one of the 36-hole lead.
The roars he generated were muted somewhat since most folks had decided to go home, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday as the crowds embraced the steamy setting in hopes that Tiger would slip into his fifth green jacket later today. He’s down two with 18 to go.
Having covered boxing during my days in Las Vegas, this reporter had a pretty good idea that none of the patrons had followed me from Augusta, Ga., to see young Max and his own version of Thunderdome: two men enter, one man leaves.
But it was a bit jarring to watch the country club boys by day and the blue-collar kids by night as 26 fighters did their best to produce their own brand of birdies by pounding each other into submission.
It crossed my mind about halfway through this long show that a Phil Mickelson-Tiger Woods match in the cage would be more entertaining than watching Holloway on the tee. He has the right frame to generate the proper swing plane, but it would be tough to play golf wearing one of those title belts to the golf course.
On the other glove, Brooks Koepka looks quite capable of climbing in the cage and taking on all-comers from the country club set. He’d have to grow accustomed to the crowd reaction since they’re so polite and accommodating here at Augusta National. Looking around at these guys behind me screaming and hollering for most of the night makes it pretty clear they’d produce some noise during a backswing.
Downtown Atlanta was in full swing as 20,000 mixed martial arts fans flocked to the arena located across the street from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of this year’s Super Bowl.
There were no Tom Brady sightings on this night, only a young and excitable crowd cheering on all the grounding and pounding taking place front and center in this nearly 20-year-old facility. Rumor has it, seats on the floor went for $1,200 apiece with not an empty one in the joint. Not quite in the same price range as a ticket to the Masters, but you gotta love some blood and guts to risk sitting that close to the cage.
The show began a little after 6 p.m. local time with Mad Max not slated to make an appearance until nearly seven hours later. He did a nice interview in the hallway deep in the arena, knowing if he wants to be called the best pound-for-pound man in the business, winning this night was imperative. He may want to remain in his own weight class for now after being beat bloody by new lightweight champ Dustin Poirier.
Fellow Waianae lad Boston Salmon didn’t even last half a minute as he kicked off the ESPN portion of this fight card by getting his head caved in by Khalid Taha with a huge left hand that he buried into Salmon’s ear hole. The referee stopped the bout so fast Salmon awoke wondering why it was all over, leaving the crowd stunned by the sudden turn of events.
That was not a problem for Holloway, who took shot after shot, but refused to go down, despite being a bloody mess by bout’s end. He was clearly the crowd favorite as the folks chanted his name several times throughout the night. And that begs the question: If Holloway can draw a huge crowd like this on the road, why would UFC president Dana White spend a lot of money to fight outdoors at Aloha Stadium? Answer. He won’t. Not that Holloway is losing any sleep over it. He is excited to have a fan base that can produce Tiger-like roars at the drop of a punch wherever he goes.
Unfortunately for him, he was not up to this task. His punches scored, but only hurt Poirier in the third, who seemed to be a little out of shape. That’s what happens when you punch yourself silly going for the knockout in the early going. Most folks at ringside thought the score should have been three rounds to two with the fourth going either way. But it was clear who won the fight, even from Augusta.
On the way back across Georgia, it will be fun thinking about a day like this one. Because of pending bad weather, they’ll be teeing it up early for today’s final round of golf, not MMA, forcing this guy out of bed and onto the course with the reporter asking himself, “How did I get here?”
