Tens of thousands of people — mostly young men — have traveled from across the country to be here this weekend. They’ve flown from Ohio or Tennessee, and driven from New Jersey, and are now standing in line for a chance to meet a fighter they have spent years watching — some even idolizing. For a chance to see Zac Brown Band. For a chance to see a bald eagle fly across the crowd. And for a chance to watch history unfold Sunday night.

“Americans,” Landon Higdon from Kentucky said, “We like watching people fight.”

While UFC CEO Dana White has said he would be paying for the event’s production — more than $60 million — one look at the hundreds of federal law enforcement officers from every agency you could think of roaming the crowd makes it clear there are significant government resources going toward this event.

Was this a good use of taxpayer dollars?

“I’ve seen worse uses of it,” Mark Bates of Michigan said, “for a lot worse than this.”

“They spend our tax dollars on all kinds of stupid stuff,” Matthew Ayers said. “Just add it to the list.”