BlurayMMA.com

It’s time for one of those strange occurrences again, a DVD review of a pay-per-view I’ve already reviewed, and this time it’s the turn of the two disc UFC 108: Evans v Silva.

Disc one begins with the prelims, starting with Rafaello Oliveira against John Gunderson in the lightweight division.

This was a dominant performance from Oliveira. While Gunderson’s attacked seemed somewhat one dimensional, Oliveira’s performance was such that he completely overwhelmed Gunderson, going for a number of submission attempts. He would surely have got the win had it not been for Gunderson’s defensive work.

The judges decision – unanimous in favour of Oliveira, so no great surprise there.

It was up to the welterweight division for the next fight as Mike Pyle faced Jake Ellenberger.

Another fight that featured some great ground work saw Ellenberger score with a couple of impressive takedowns. However, Pyle was able to frustrate him for most of the round, although he ended it by saying he’d broken a rib.

Round two didn’t last that long. A big right dropped Pyle, and Ellenberger quickly followed him down for the ground and pound, with the referee quickly calling a halt to the proceedings and giving Ellenberger his first UFC win.

Action from the middleweight division followed as Mark Munoz went up against Ryan Jensen.

This was an impressive performance from the man from the Philippines. As soon as he took the fight to the ground Munoz was in control, and as soon as he took the dominant position he unleashed with the ground and pound. Jensen actually had to tap out twice before the referee eventually stopped the onslaught and gave Munoz the TKO win.

Then it was back down to the lightweight division with Cole Miller and Dan Lauzon.

This was a great back and forth affair. Lauzon rocked Miller early on with a left hook, but Miller was able to come back strongly with some impressive ground work, wrapping his legs around Lauzon’s head and neck and getting the submission with a kimura from a reverse triangle. A really great performance from Miller here.

Back up a division for the next fight as Martin Kampmann faced Jacob Volkmann.

Another of those back and forth affairs saw Volkman get in some good shots, but he was rather reckless in doing so because Kampmann was able to counter with strikes of his own.

The second time this happened Kampmann took control and soon got the submission win with a guillotine. An impressive comeback for Kampmann after his previous defeat.

The main show began with the big boys of the heavyweight division as Junior Dos Santos went up against Gilbert Yvel.

Dos Santos proved once again what a great striker he is. Although Yvel got in a couple of good shots Dos Santos was on top throughout, with a big left sending the Frenchman to la-la land momentarily. A few seconds of ground and pound later and Dos Santos had another great win.

A second Miller came out to play next as Cole’s brother Jim faced Duane Ludwig in the lightweight division.

Miller was just as impressive as his brother. A right hook sent Ludwig down. Miller quickly followed and went for an arm bar. Ludwig tried to fight it but tapped out a few seconds later.

Speaking of brothers, Dan Lauzon’s brother Joe followed, taking on Sam Stout in another lightweight encounter.

This was a great example of a grappler versus striker battle Lauzon controlled the early part of the first round with his takedowns, and he opened up a nasty cut above Stout’s left eye with an elbow.

But from there the majority of the fight belonged to Stout with his superior striking. He clearly out fought Lauzon, whose only other notable moment of offence came in the third when he went for a guillotine. This didn’t last long though as Stout was able to escape and get back to his feet.

No surprises with the decision here as all three judges scored in favour of Stout.

The big welterweight encounter saw Dustin Hazelett facing Paul Daley.

Semtex certainly lived up to his nickname here. After a feeling out period Daley unleashed with a left hook that sent Hazelett crashing. Two seconds of ground and pound later and Daley had the knockout win.

This was a really impressive performance from Daley. It’s just a shame the way his UFC career turned out the way it did.

The main event saw Rashad Evans taking on Thiago Silva in the light heavyweight division.

This battle of former champions was certainly worthy of it’s spot on the card. Evans controlled the first two rounds, using his boxing to set up numerous takedowns, one of which saw him barge Silva from one side of the cage to the other.

Silva came back towards the end of the third. After a bit of showboating he rocked Evans with a big right. But unfortunately he just didn’t have enough energy to finish the job, showboating even more as Evans recovered.

Once again the judges were called into action as they gave Evans the unanimous decision.

Disc two is where you’ll find all the bonus features, the interviews and other stuff.

In conclusion – well folks, this was full of great fights. There wasn’t one bad encounter on in this DVD set, and it was nice to see all of these encounters again.

But there are still down points on these DVD releases, including no introductions from Goldberg and Rogan, and no fight introductions from the legend that is Bruce Buffer until the main event.

So once again a good DVD release from the UFC. But remember, if you saw this show when it was on television be prepared for a few edits.

UFC 108: Silva v Evans is available to buy online at www.fightdvd.co.uk.

Strikeforce returned to Bravo 2 screens this past Monday here in Britain with their latest Challengers show, headlined by the heavyweight clash between Shane Del Rosario and Lolohea Mahe.

The show began with action from the light heavyweight division as Abongo Humphrey squared off against Mike Kyle.

A very exciting fight saw Humphrey put on an excellent display of ground work in the first round as he went for a number of guillotine attempts.

Humphrey kept this momentum going into the early part of the second, but as he began to tire Kyle took control, and it wasn’t long before he took his man’s back and locked in a rear naked choke for the submission win. An impressive outing for both men here.

Then it was down to the welterweight division as Cory Devela took on Bobby Voelker.

A nice technical battle saw Devela putting on a great performance on the ground. Voelker looked game at times, especially with the striking exchanges, but Devela was able to keep up with him in this respect.

With the fight going the distance the judges were called into action as they gave the split decision to Voelker, a decision that didn’t sit too well with the crowd, and with me, as I was sure that Devela had done enough to win.

The only title fight on the show saw Sarah Kaufman defending the Women’s Lightweight title against Roxanne Modafferri.

This may well be one of the best fights I’ve seen in recent times. Modafferri looked great in the first round, controlling the fight on the ground, while Kaufman came back well in the second with some tremendous striking.

But this fight will be remembered for it’s highlight reel moment towards the end of the third. As Modafferri went for an arm bar Kaufmann lifted her up and slammed her to the ground, knocking her out in the process, giving her the title retaining knockout win and keeping her unbeaten record intact.

The main event saw Shane Del Rosario facing Lolohea Mahe in the heavyweight division.

Despite giving away over twenty pounds Del Rosario really took the fight to his opponent with his superior striking.

A borderline knee to Mahe that was ruled a low blow stopped him momentarily, but in the end Mahe just had no answer to Del Rosario’s attack, and it was a series of knees in a muay thai clinch that saw Mahe slumping to the ground, with the referee quickly stepping in a giving Del Rosario the TKO win.

In conclusion – after British viewers were left disappointed when they didn’t get to see a certain Russian losing Strikeforce made up for this with a great show as the lesser lights once again showing that they’re ready to step up to the main stage. Although given the performances of Sarah Kaufman and Shane Del Rosario the term lesser lights may seem a little inappropriate.  So in all another good show from Scott Coker and his crew. Very enjoyable.

This past Friday -- July 16, I was privileged with the opportunity to report on Chuck Liddell’s first stop on the UK and Ireland whirlwind training seminar tour, just down the road from me at Rossmore Leisure Centre, Poole. This first event was in association with The Bulldog Ultimate Training Academy, based in the centre of Bournemouth.

Trainees put through their paces on the mats.

Armed with my notebook, pen, camera -- complete with a fresh set of Duracells, I hopped onto the bus in good time for the event scheduled for 6:30pm start. Unfortunately Chuck’s flight was delayed, resulting in a delay in to the start time. Making up for the delay the students in attendance were treated to the opportunity of training from The Ultimate Fighter 9 veteran and BAMMA featherweight contender Jeff Lawson, plus Phil Norman of Gladiators fame and Alex De Souza a skilled Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert. So not only would the trainees learn from one of the very elite stand-up fighters but also pick up some awesome grappling skills, even better value for money.

Along with the MMA students anticipating Liddell’s arrival, were fans like Ryan from Wiltshire. It’s not everyday you get meet a UFC legend, Ryan had brought him a glossy photo of the ‘Iceman’ plus a digital camera to capture the all important snaps.

Chuck’s arrival to hall was greeted by applause from all in attendance at 8pm, when the seminar officially kicked off. Wow, the guy has a real aura about him, you couldn’t help but feel. He’s not a loud and bold vocal person like nemesis Tito Ortiz, but he sure is commanding in that cold and calm way.

The first thing learnt is Liddell’s arms are a length of rope with a rock attached. All the students warmed up swinging their arms,  in this slingshot motion. Chuck explained how the technique is so useful in the octagon, going over the top of the opponents guard, using whole body power in one motion for the knock-out blow.

Various other stand-up techniques were demonstrated by the former UFC light-heavyweight champion, including the spinning back kick and the spinning back fist, a strike Shonie Carter has been successful with, defeating Matt Serra.

As the evening progressed Chuck taught ground defence skills. Liddell’s key strength is clearly his striking ability, it’s easy to take his wrestling for granted. What he does so well is wrestle in reverse. It’s rare to see Chuck take fighters down, instead he utilises wrestling to keep upright and get back to a vertical position when needed.

It's not everyday you meet a UFC icon.

When the training session wound up at 9:30pm, a long queue tailed around the sports hall, of all those eager to get a photograph with the man himself, clutching Chuck’s book and various pictures to be signed.

12 lucky students selected by Chuck Liddell, each received a copy of British fight-film Twelve. The makers of Twelve have teamed up Fighters Inc making it all possible.

Overall the event was a great experience, for trainee mixed martial artists, seasoned fighters improving there fight game and fans alike. The event appeared to be a sell-out, judging by the number of people.

On Facebook I noticed Alex Reid pictured alongside Chuck, presumably ‘The Reidernator’ got some training in with the ‘Iceman’ ahead of the showdown against Tom ‘Kong’ Watson, at the London venue.

Chuck hooked up with Fighters Inc at Seni 2006, since then they have worked together on one off seminars as well as  Chucks legendary after parties.

Fighters Inc are working on more big MMA names to visit the UK for the super seminar series. Be sure to visit www.fightersinc.net/experience.htm and join the mailing list, keeping up on the latest regards future training seminars from icons of the fighting arts.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Death Warrior - fight or die.

Timed well with the cinematic release of The A-Team in the UK, sees the DVD release of Death Warrior, featuring UFC star – Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who also plays BA Baracus in the big screen nostalgia action flick.

As you can imagine by the title, Death Warrior is not for the faint-hearted, this film is aimed at those who like their action 100% hard hitting. Rampage plays ‘Wolf Jackson’, basically the Jackson we know already, a bad-ass, howling, body-slamming, cage-fighter.

The action kicks off with Jackson doing what he does best, slamming his way to victory. Lead character – Rainerio Isandro, played by the screen writer Hector Echavarria challenges Jackson post-fight, wanting one more big fight before quitting the fight game.

Just like the UFC but with but perhaps a little more dramatic so far, until the gangsters turn up, forcing Rain and Wolf to fight to the death or face the consequences imposed on their loved ones. Echavarria being the writer and starring actor unsurprisingly survives the no-holds-barred fight to the death against the former UFC light-heavyweight champion.

It transpires Rain and Wolf aren’t the only fighters manipulated by sinister gangsters. Rashad Evans, Georges St Pierre and Keith Jardine’s characters are all tricked to compete to the death or face the consequences, forced to fight on web-cast pay per views, being bet on for big bucks by bloodthirsty punters.

The MMA-movie follows Rain’s attempts to break free from the grasp of the crooks, to save his wife’s life.

A tale of heroic cage-fighters, gangsters, fights to the death, loyalty and betrayal. As to be expected from an Echavarria film, along with hard-hitting  graphic fight scenes, gratuitous female nudity and sex scenes are thrown in for good measure, perks of the job eh? Well you can’t blame him.

Admittedly Echavarria’s latest offering isn’t up to the previous standard set by Unrivaled, but if gangsters, suspense, bare-knuckle-fight action featuring UFC icons battling to the death is your thing you are sure to enjoy this latest release from E1 Entertainment.

Death Warrior is out now on DVD, available from all good retailers.

Play.com are currently offering the brand new DVD for an amazing £7.99.

Keep visiting BluRayMMA.com for more reviews of brand new UFC, related combat sport and martial arts DVD releases.

DVD review by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

We have 3 copies up for grabs of Death Warrior, featuring Rampage Jackson, Georges St Pierre, Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine, released by E1 Entertainment, exclusively on DVD today.

For your chance to bag a copy all you have to do is answer the following question:

Death Warrior features American UFC fighter Rampage Jackson, name the team he trains with here in the UK?

Email your answers to:

duane@bluraymma.com

Closing date Thursday 29 July.

It’s time to step into the world of hybrid kickboxing as we return to the second season of Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, as we take a look at the play-offs with episodes 13 through 16.

Texas Dragons v Oklahoma Destroyers
The first Western Conference play-off was another of those one-sided affairs as Thomas Longacre, David Taylor and the always impressive Anthony Njokuani racked up three wins for Oklahoma.

Texas took a share of the spoils as Mike Sheppard drew with Jesse Lawrence, but the Destroyers got back to winning ways when Jeri Sitzes defeated Angela Hayes for the third time. The Dragons’ only first half win came when Lawson Baker defeated Alex Beck.

The second half followed the same pattern, with further wins for Taylor, Longacre and Njokuani. With three fights remaining Texas needed knockouts to stay in the match, and although Mike Sheppard beat Randy Blake there was no knockout. So when Lawson Baker drew with UFC 2 runner-up Patrick Smith Texas had no chance of making the finals, with Oklahoma winning 163-116.

New Jersey Tigers v St. Louis Enforcers
This was an incredibly close contest. New Jersey began the first half well when Uriah Hall got a stoppage win against Dusty Miller. But with St. Louis taking the next three fights Jerrell Miller’s win over John Turlington brought the Tigers back into it and evened the scores, although the Enforcers’ Tim Connors took them to a six point half-time lead when he defeated Shennen Maceo.

With Fernando Calleros and Jennifer Han winning the first two second half fights for the Enforcers New Jersey knew they had to really up their game to stay in the contest, and this they did, winning the next three fights, with the highlight being John James’ knockout win over Samir Seif.

It all came down to numbers in the final fight. John Greubal had to defeated David Gonzalez by eight clear points to give St. Louis the win, and although he dominated for the most part Gonzalez’s performance was just enough to give the Tigers the two point win, 133-131, and entry into the Eastern Conference final.

Los Angeles Stars v Denver Fury
This Western Conference play-off between the top and bottom teams was a one-sided affair.

As soon as Jason Bourelly knocked out Denver’s Gabe Walbridge in the first minute it was obvious that the Stars were going through to the final.

Denver won only one fight in the first half, trailing by forty-one points at half time, even though their luck changed in the second half when Matt Callahan earned a disqualification win over Donald Vickers and Colby Snyder knocked out Jack Felton.

But by the time Raymond Daniels sent El-Java Abdul Qadir down for the count Los Angeles had already won by a massive margin, gaining victory by 151-102.

New York Clash v Miami Force
Miami were supposed to walk over a team who had never won a match in WCL history. New York hadn’t read the script though.

The most enthralling play-off saw the Clash and the Force trading wins until Craig Oxley and the impressive Armin Mrkanovic built up a good lead for Miami. However, New York ended the first half when their best fighter Jennifer Santiago returned from injury to defeat Jessica Bednark.

The pattern continued in the second half, with Leo Valdivia’s win for the clash against Mark Spaziano evening the scores at 91 apiece. The teams remained tired when Terry Bullman and Rick Cheek contested a draw.

But with the teams trading the next two fights Miami went into the final fight four points ahead, needing reserve fighter Kelli Cofer to get the win. Jennifer Santiago was standing in her way though, and another impressive win for her sealed the deal for New York as they won 137-132.

In conclusion – this DVD box set continues to impress me. There were a ton of great fights on this fourth disc, all of which were really enjoyable.

However, and this is my only criticism of the WCL so far, the play-off format was a little perplexing, mainly because all eight teams were entered into the draw, making the regular season results slightly irrelevant, especially when you’ve got a team that didn’t win in the regular season going over a team that was undefeated.

But apart from that this slice of WCL action gets the thumbs up.

With thanks to the powers-that-be at the WCL for supplying a copy of this release. These episodes form part of the WCL Season Two box set, which can be purchased from the usual online retailers.

Here’s what British UFC representatives Mike Bisping and Ross Pearson thought of the kick-ass action flick:

Michael Bisping said afterwards -- “I thought the movie was great. I thought the fight scenes were fantastic and everyone involved did such a great job on such a low budget… All in all a fantastic movie. I’m looking forward to the sequel… 13!”

Ross Pearson said -- “Great fight scenes, a lot of action. It was a great film. The final fight [in the film] was the best!”

I’m looking forward to watching this myself, keep checking back for a review right here.

Add Twelve to your fight flick collection, available to buy now, online and from all good retailers.

duane@bluraymma.com

If, while watching Kane defeat Rey Mysterio at WWE’s Money in the Bank someone told you that the new champion was pivotal to the development of mixed martial arts in Japan in the 20th century you’d probably call them crazy.

Ultimate Fighting Legends is a documentary in which noted martial artist Hisao Maki discusses the ten fights he believes shaped the martial arts from the end of World War II through to 1999.

Originally released in 2000, Maki choose matches from a number of disciplines. Although the majority of these fights mainly involve people who have made their name in the professional wrestling industry.

At a time when the kayfabe manual was being torn up and thrown away, these fights are discussed as if they were legitimate contests. The phrase “worked shoot” never comes into play here.

Beginning with the infamous Antonio Inoki/Muhammad Ali fight in 1978, Maki picks out the strong points of his ten chosen fights, putting over these points extremely well.

There are highlights from a variety of contests, including a women’s boxing match putting Sugar Miyaki against Tomomi Dan in 1996, and an appearance from legendary American kickboxer Benny “The Jet” Urquidez.

But the majority of the fights have a professional wrestling link. There’s a tag-team match featuring four Tiger Masks, a UWF fight between Satoru Sayama and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, as well as a match which, Maki says, began the famed Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling promotion, Atsushi Onita versus Masashi Aoyagi.

As for WWE’s new World Champion, Glen Jacobs is featured in a shoot-style contest against Koji Kitao from 1996, a year before he became the Big Red Machine.

The final part of the documentary centres on the 1980 fight between Antonio Inoki and Willie Williams, a wild professional wrestling versus karate affair that almost cause a riot by the looks of things.

There’s some great footage from all the fights, sadly only in highlight form, but you still get the feelings that Maki is trying to convey.

So in all, this would probably appeal to professional wrestling and mixed martial arts fans alike. It’s a nice little peace of history, if somewhat quaint by today’s standards, considering the way we view professional wrestling now.

Be warned though, if you buy this because of the packaging you may be a little disappointed. It makes mention of the likes of Hulk Hogan and Mike Tyson, but neither are mentioned in the film. It also says that the documentary lasts just under two hours. It doesn’t, clocking in at about fifty-five minutes.

But this is enjoyable nonetheless, and a nice slice of Japanese combat sports history that is easily available from the likes of Amazon.

A first for The Two Sheds Review as I take my first look at an Australia MMA show with Impact FC’s second show, The Uprising, shown live on Primetime in the early hours of this past Sunday morning here in Britain.

The show began with action from the middleweight division as Murilo Bustamante faced Jesse Taylor.

This proved to be a good show opener. Round one was a great and forth battle with Bustamante pulling off a couple of good submission attempts before Taylor reversed the positions.

Taylor kept that momentum going into the second, scoring with a take down and getting in some good ground and pound shots.

The end came after referee John McCarthy stood the fighters up. Bustamante looked unsteady on his feet and soon went to the ground, verbally submitting, unable to carry on because of a dizzy spell, giving Taylor the win with a very unfortunate ending.

Action from the first IFC show followed as Josh Barnett took on Geronimo Dos Santos in the heavyweight division.

A good performance from Barnett saw the former UFC Champion get the early take down, and although they soon returned to their feet the fight quickly went back down, with the referee stepping in when Dos Santos failed to respond to Barnett’s ground and pound.

The regular action resumed as Murilo Rua went up against Jeremy May in another middleweight encounter.

What a fast paced battle this was. Ninja was giving up a lot of height and reach to May, who used that advantage to good effect early on when a left/right combination sent Rua crashing.

But instead of going for the ground and pound May looked for an arm bar, and that proved to be his undoing. Ninja was able to recover, and it wasn’t long before he pulled guard and took the submission win with an in-arm guillotine. A very good fight, very enjoyable.

Yet more middleweight action followed as Denis Kang took on Paulo Filho.

The first fight of the show to go the distance had a somewhat cagey start until Filho invited Kang to join him on the ground.

From there we had a great back and forth ground battle, with both men putting on good performances, each having their moments with various submission attempts.

So with the fight going the distance the judges were called into action. One scored for Kang, one for Filho, with the third scoring it even, and the fight declared a draw. A pretty fair result. I couldn’t separate them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these two were matched together again sometime in the future.

More action from the first show followed as Carlos Newton faced Brian Ebersole in the welterweight division.

This battle of the wrestlers saw both men going against type as they engaged in a highly entertaining striking battle.

Both men had their chances to shine in what looked a pretty even contest, and when they attempted to take the fight to the ground the take downs were easily defended.

So we went to another decision, with Ebersole getting the unanimous verdict from the judges.

The big boys of the super heavyweight division were up next as Brad Morris went up against Soa Palelei.

This all Australian affair was a hard hitting fight, with Palelei dominating from the start, rocking Morris with some big knees in the clinch.

When the fight went to the ground it wasn’t long before Palelei locked in a kimura for an impressive submission win.

It was back down to the welterweight division for the next fight as Paul Daley, fresh off his cheap shot against Josh Koscheck, took on Daniel Acacio.

Semtex looked back to his best here after his recent problems as he put on a great striking display. Acacio had a few good moments on the ground with a couple of submission attempts in the second round.

The end came in the third. Daley delivered a big elbow on the ground that opened up a nasty cut above Acacio’s eye, and that was it was the Brazilian verbally tapped to give Daley the well deserved win.

The main event saw UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock taking on Pedro Rizzo on a heavyweight clash.

Rizzo had a massive thirty-plus pound weight advantage in this one, and he used his size and power advantage to good effect with some crisp striking and hard right kicks to Shamrock’s left leg.

Eventually the kicks began to take their toll, with the final kick buckling Shamrock’s left as he slumped to the ground. That was it for Shamrock as the referee stepped in and stopped the right, giving Rizzo the impressive looking win. As for Shamrock, he was once again disappointing.

With the main event finishing early, filler material from earlier in the show followed in the form of a heavyweight encounter between Jim York and Peter Graham.

A very intriguing fight saw York dominate the former K-1 Oceania Champion on the ground, going for a guillotine early on before getting the submission win a couple of minutes later with a rear naked choke.

In conclusion – Primetime’s second excursion into the world of mixed martial arts proved to be a highly entertaining affair.

From the opening Bustamante/Taylor fight right through to the main event every fight delivered, even though, as I said before, Ken Shamrock’s performance was very disappointing as he looked every one of his forty-six years.

So kudos once again to Primetime for giving British MMA fans the chance to see shows we wouldn’t normally see. Well done all round.

Cage fighter Alex Reid with wife Jordan

Middleweight cage-fighting contender and Celebrity Big Brother winner Alex Reid is back on TV.

Katie & Alex: For Better For Worse follows Alex Reid and Katie Price’s wedding plans, for their blessing following their whirlwind ceremony in Las Vegas earlier this year.

Katie & Alex: For Better For Worse - Wednesday, 9pm, ITV2.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com