FORT HOOD, Texas – In the grand scheme of things, it’s just a sport, just one night of entertainment.
But the UFC’s second “Fight for the Troops” show on Saturday meant a night away from the stresses of military service – stresses most will never understand. About 3,200 troops attended the show, which was set up in a temporary arena inside a hangar on an air strip – tanks and helicopters just a couple hundred feet away from the Octagon.
The troops posed for pictures with Chuck Liddell and Bruce Buffer and Dana White and the Octagon Girls and Stitch and every fighter walking past – and most stopped to shake hands, sign autographs and get a snapshot, win or lose. They ate burritos at a tailgate outside the hangar. They cheered and booed the same as they would if they were in any other arena.