http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news_detail.html?sku=1589
FOOTBALL ace Cristiano Ronaldo joined 16,000 fight fans as the most violent sports show staged in Britain became a bloodfest.
He and other Manchester United players sat in a VIP box to watch the brutal battling at the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
The contestants kicked, punched and scratched each other to bits in the show at Manchester's MEN Arena which was screened for a further 10 million viewing on TV in the US.
The vicious sport – a mixture of boxing and martial arts – has taken America by storm to become sport's fastest growing phenomenon.
Ronaldo, 22, who was named last night as PFA Player of the Year – and Young Player Of The Year, was joined at the gruesome spectacle by fellow United stars Michael Carrick, 25, Darren Fletcher, 23, and goalie Tomasz Kuszczak, 25. Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy, 27, was also there.
Other celebs watching the action included hardman actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, 46, boxing ace Amir Khan, 20, and Corrie star Ryan Thomas, 22.
Among the shocking scenes they witnessed were:
Brit hopeful Mike Bisping emerging from his bout looking like he had been in a car crash despite winning.
Colossal Croatian Mirko Cro Cop knocked unconscious by a flying kick to the head. His opponent then went to land further blows on helpless Cro, only for the referee to drag him away.
Shocked fans looked on as the Brazilian conqueror Gabriel Gonzaga appeared to try to beat Cro, 32, to a pulp even after he lay comatose on the floor.
IT worker James Alexander, 37, said: "I was expecting it to be all showbiz like professional wrestling.
"But this was the real thing. These guys were huge 17stone musclemen and they were trying to take each other apart. It was entertaining, but I was surprised it is allowed."
Health campaigners have called for the sport to be banned and the Manchester show is likely to reignite their fight.
Sponsors have not been slow to catch on to the sport's potential – pay-per-view TV cost nearly £15 a pop, and the event generated £1.5m from ticket sales.
It was the third highest grossing box office ever seen at the MEN Arena.
And a further £250,000 was expected to have changed hands in sales of merchandising as swarming fight fans sought shiny souvenirs of their bloody night out.
The event was so violent that some well-known celeb babes pulled out at the last minute.
Corrie babe Tina O'Brien, 23, failed to show, as did Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole, 23 and Wayne Rooney's fiancée Coleen McLoughlin, 21.
And anti-violence campaigner Steven Adams, 54, from Manchester, fumed:
"This should be banned immediately. It's not sport – it's the equivalent of a human dog fight and it glorifies violence to a horrifying extent."
Boxing legend Barry McGuigan, 46, has slammed Ultimate Fighting as "dirty and undignified".
What do YOU think? Should it be banned? Comment NOW on Have Your Say.