RALEIGH - Mixed martial arts arrived Saturday night at the RBC Center in a spectacle that combined equal parts testosterone and cleavage, heavy metal and heavy punches, fight-ending "tap outs" and beer on tap.

Perhaps it was at the sight of a 12-year-old singing the national anthem next to a military honor guard next to a row of ring women in gold miniskirts and bikini tops placing their hands over their hearts -- all inside a six-sided, chain-link cage -- that ticket buyers knew they were witnessing a slice of Americana they don't get to see every day.

And this, Doug Muhle hopes, is just the beginning.

Muhle, a fighter-turned-promoter, fought to get the state ban on mixed martial arts overturned last year. He was hoping that Saturday's Carolina Crown, with a card of six amateur and eight professional MMA bouts, would draw 7,000 fans or more. The crowd looked closer to 3,000 to 4,000, though the ringside tables that went for $3,000 to $5,000 apiece were full.

Mixed martial arts allows fighters to employ various styles, such as jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing. The fighters emphasize the importance of their versatility and hard training, in part to differentiate themselves from the novice brawlers of toughman competitions.

"Toughman's more of a good ol' country boy coming out for a bar fight," referee Donnie Jessup of Trap Hill said Saturday. "MMA, they're more disciplined, trained and in shape."

Seasoned MMA fans get to know the various disciplines and the long glossary of terms for the maneuvers that decide fights, such as the "rear naked choke" and the "heel hook."

It quickly became apparent that a wrestling background helps (a lot of fighting is done on the floor) and a fighter is in trouble when his opponent gets on top of him and starts punching.

Brandon Garner of Raleigh, who has appeared on the Spike TV series "The Ultimate Fighter," won his 135-pound pro bout by submission over Seth Marquez.

The outcome that may have most surprised local fans was the loss by tap out of Pete Martin, a former N.C. State wrestler who was 4-0 entering his final amateur fight before turning pro. At 155 pounds, he came out punching and kicking against Joseph Carroll, and had the advantage until the patient Carroll forced Martin to tap out, or submit, with a rear naked choke, which is pretty much what it sounds like.

Dustin Bowden of Raleigh, making his amateur debut, left the cage with a nasty cut and a knockout loss to Tomar Washington of Myrtle Beach, S.C., a Warren Sapp lookalike, in a meeting of 220-pounders.

What they showed was how quickly an MMA fight can end. As Bowden, a former wrestler, was trying to take down Washington, the latter nailed him with a devastating punch.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know," Bowden said when asked how he had gotten the gash over one eye. "I guess when I went to drop to his legs to scoop him, he caught me with a hook."

Like other mixed martial artists, Washington said he had been working to answer what opponents like to do to him.

"A lot of guys don't want to stand up with me, and that's the reason a lot of people try to take me down, and that's what I worked on a lot," he said. "I was defending a takedown."

In the other amateur bouts, Chris Sutton, also a former N.C. State wrestler, won his amateur debut as a heavyweight on "strikes" in the first round against Dwight Hyman; Mike Brown of Camp Lejeune got Tommy Delooze to tap out in the first round of another heavyweight bout; Grant Harris, a former Wakefield High wrestler, took a split decision in three rounds against Scott Kingston at 155 pounds; and Champ Tramaine used his wrestling skills to wear down Josh Leach and force a tap out with a head and arm choke.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.