Only four hours until UFC 86

By Mike Trask · July 5, 2008 · 1 PM

In about four hours the first fights at UFC 86 in Mandalay Bay begin.

The hugeness of the event might be best put into perspective by the ticket prices. Stubhub.com still has a few available. Minimum price: $236. Want to be cageside? There’s some seats left for $1,400.

Over on Craigslist.com the brokers are posting some upper-level seats for $165 a pop.

Wondering if your nose is going to bleed from the “cheap” seats? The answer is no. I saw last weekend’s Pacquaio-Diaz boxing match from the very top row at Mandalay. It’s a great view.

The arena is a bit smaller than it seems on television. It’s not an NBA-size area with 20,000 seats. There are less than 10,000. All of them provide a great view and what will be a great atmosphere tonight.

The dark matches tonight should be decent. The highlight is Gabriel Gonzaga facing Justin McCully.

Gonzaga gained fame from his gruesome knockout of Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic last April. But he’s 0-2 since that defining moment.

McCully is a relative unknown. He won in his UFC debut in April 2007, but hasn’t fought since. He’s actually more famous for his role as a cornerman for former UFC star Tito Ortiz.

The first fights will start at 5:15 p.m. The live pay-per-view begins at 7 p.m.