My favorite moment at the blood soaked Ultimate Fighting Championship 57 (Liddell Vs. Couture ) at Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night came when the video screens showed heiress Paris Hilton in the crowd. The boo that went up was as deafening as any sound I've ever heard in my life, certainly equal to the crowd's excitement at watching Liddell win by TKO.

The early Ultimate Fighting Championships took place mostly in the eastern United States as well as Japan, and were an underground phenomenon of few rules and much violence. But since 2001 the UFC has been owned by members of the family that operates Stations here (a chain of casinos geared to locals), and sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission with rounds, weight divisions and lots of rules to minimize the risks. There is still plenty of blood. I watched Elvis Sinosic get pounded for three five minute rounds by Allesio Sakara. At the end, Elvis(who spent much of the final round on his back getting punched in the head) had a face indistinguishable from his dyed bright red hair. I ran into one of the judges right after the fight washing blood off his suit in the restroom. He pointed out that Elvis could have tapped out at any point rather than hang into the end in order to lose a unanimous decision."No, shame in that," he said, adding,  "Yeah, he got whipped."

Vegas has hosted a few of these events each year since 2001. But UFC 57 was by far the most successful event yet quickly selling out the over 11,000 seats in the venue (along with an additional area in the casino packed with more than 1,000 people watching on a closed circuit) and thousands more watching on pay-per-view. And, for those with any doubt that this is a real sport you could go bet real money on the outcome at the casino.

(photo of 2002 Ultimate Fighting bout by Mark Boster/LAT)