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More from Brock’s best buddy Paul Heyman.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Here’s another interview video by Ariel Helwani. Following Brock Lesnar’s win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, Ariel interviews Brock former WWE buddies -- ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg, Jim Ross and best friend Paul Heyman.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

It was a year since we saw UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar in the octagon. But now he’s back, and he finally tackled the pretender to his throne, Shane Carwin, in the main event of UFC 116, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The show began with the preliminaries, and a light heavyweight bout between Seth Petruzelli and Ricardo Romero. A very entertaining battle here. Petruzelli began the fight with some great striking, and when the fight went to the ground Romero looked like he was about to get the win after a few submission attempts.

It was pretty much the same in the second, although Romero’s ground work was a lot better, and as he tied the Kimbo killer up, trapping his left arm, Romero went for an arm bar on the right arm. Petruzelli tried to move his position while Romero held on to the hold, but it didn’t do him any good. In fact it made things worse, and he tapped out immediately, giving Romero the impressive debut win.

It was up to the heavyweight division for the next fight as Brendon Schaub faced Chris Tuchscherer. A bit of feeling out at the beginning of this one before it suddenly sparked into life when Schaub connected with a big right to Tuchscherer’s temple. Schaub followed him down for some ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give Schaub the TKI win in just over a minute. Schaub looked great in this one.

Filler material followed in the form of Gerald Harris against Dave Branch in the middleweight division. This was a very cagey fight, and although there were a few good moments it didn’t really come to life until the third round, with the most explosive moment at the end. Branch tried to pull guard, but Harris defended and slammed him down to the ground, knocking him out in the process. A great ending to a somewhat lacklustre affair.

The main show began with lightweight action as George Sotiropoulos faced Kurt Pellegrino. A very good fight saw the Aussie put in another impressive performance, controlling the fight when it went to the ground in the first two rounds, as well as out striking his man as well.

Pellegrino’s best work came after he scored with a take down in the third, although Sotiropoulos put on some good defensive work. Then, in the dying seconds, Pellegrino connected with a knee and a punch that rocked Sotiropoulos and sent him down. But then the fight ended so Pellegrino couldn’t capitalise.

So with the fight going the distance the judges were called into action as they have Sotiropoulos the unanimous decision, although the actual scoring came as something of a surprise, as none of the judges gave anything to Pellegrino, despite his good work in the third round.

Then it was on to Krzysztof Soszynski against Stephan Bonnar in the light heavyweight division. This was the kind of fight that Bonnar thrives on, a wild brawl with a bit of ground work thrown in for good measure.

We had some great striking from both men in the first round, which continued into the second. It was great to watch, with Bonnar dropping Soszynski with a knee in a muay thai clinch, following up with a torrent of blows on the ground before the referee finally stepped in. You couldn’t help but admire Bonnar for this performance, especially after his post fight interview.

Welterweight action followed as Chris Lytle faced Matt Brown. A great ground battle saw each men putting in some good work. Brown’s best moment came in the first when he applied a d’arce choke for what seemed like an eternity.

Lytle was able to escape this submission attempt, and took control in the second, tying Brown up with a head triangle from the mount before getting the submission win with an evil looking arm bar. A very exciting battle, and a good display of ground fighting.

It was on to the middleweight division for the next fight as Chris Leben, just two weeks after his last fight, faced Japanese star Yoshihiro Akiyama. Now this was a fight, the kind that makes you proud to be an MMA fan.

It was an exciting fight from start to finish, with Akiyama controlling the pace in the first round with some excellent ground work. Round two saw an energy sapping brawl that could have cost either man the fight.

The excitement continued right through the third, and with just twenty seconds left, Leben locked in a triangle choke, with Akiyama having no choice but to tap, ending an outstanding contest, a candidate for fight of the year.

The main event was the fight that we’d all been waiting for, as Shane Carwin went up against Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight title. It was great to see Lesnar walk out to Metallica’s Enter Sandman. I was half expecting him to crack open a few beers along the way.

This certainly lived up to all the hype, and the tremendous action began early in the first round when Carwin rocked Lesnar. It looked like he was going to get the win with his extended period of ground and pound, but Lesnar was able to survive, although he looked badly hurt.

Lesnar took control in the second, unfamiliar territory for Carwin, as he scored with the take down, moving into position so he could apply an arm triangle for the submission win. What a fight!

With plenty of time left it was on to more filler material as Kendall Grove faced Goran Reljic in the middleweight division. This fight suffered from one major problem – it was shown right after the Lesnar/Carwin fight.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a very good fight, with both guys putting in good showings, but it suffered because of it’s unfortunate placing on the broadcast. It kind of felt like an anti-climax.

It was an entertaining battle, with Grove making good use of the up kick in the first round. The action looked pretty even throughout, and with the fight going the distance the judges gave Grove the split decision.

In conclusion – another very strong outing for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, once again proving that they’re the best they are at what they do. Each and every fight delivered, most of them big time, with the battles between Leben and Akiyama and the big fight between Lesnar and Carwin delivering in spades.

So in all, well, I’ve already said it, and I don’t want to end up repeating myself.

UFC 116: Lesnar vs Carwin

Huge heavyweight money match – Lesnar Vs Carwin has got everyone talking, making predictions for the highly anticipated title unification bout. Who is going walk out the octagon carrying the gold? Who are you betting to win it all?

There is no doubt it’s a tough one to call. ‘Vanilla Gorilla’ – Brock Lesnar is monstrous individual to tangle with, boasting overwhelming size and strength battling the likes of Randy Couture. Comparing Shane Carwin physically, he’s the nearest match in size to the former WWE superstar, not only that he’s got the wrestling to back it up.

It’s worthy of note Brock was an NCAA Division 1 heavyweight champion, whereas Carwin was a Division 2 Heavyweight champion. This could be difference maker for Brock. A difference maker for unbeaten Carwin is the heavyweight’s knock-out power.

Common opponent Frank Mir knows too well what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Carwin uppercut. It’s fair to say as of yet Brock’s chin hasn’t been tested inside the cage, Carwin will be out to test it. If Lesnar can withstand Carwin’s punching power there is good chance he’ll win and a possibility the huge dude is superhuman!

Something I feel needs to be thrown in the equation is that Brock is still learning MMA. Despite being defending champ he’s had few mixed martial arts fights. Whilst training with the likes of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has Lesnar added anything new to his arsenal yet to be seen?

Hit me back, commenting with your thoughts on Lesnar versus Carwin. If you like get involved on the BluRayMMA.com Facebook group or Twitter @Duane_BluRayMMA.

Complete advertised card:

Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin (Heavyweight title fight)

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Wanderlei Silva – out replaced by Chris Leben

Matt Brown vs Chris Lytle

Stephan Bonnar vs Krzysztof Soszynski

Kurt Pellegrino vs George Sotiropoulos

Brendan Schaub vs Chris Tuchscherer+

Kendall Grove vs Goran Reljic+

Dave Branch vs. Gerald Harris*

Seth Petruzelli vs Ricardo Romero*

Julio Paulino vs Daniel Roberts*

Jon Madsen vs Karlos Vemola*

+SpikeTV Prelim

See the UFC 116 live this Saturday July 3, ESPN or pay per view in USA.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

UFC: Best of 2009 DVD.

Along with putting all the UFC pay per view events on DVD for you to own, fortunately for us FightDVD also release all the best of collectors discs. One such recent offering is UFC Best of 2009.

Originally aired on ESPN, this unique DVD has the function of choosing extra bouts in their entirety as you view the main feature or you can pick to see the fights separately from the menu.

2009 without a doubt was an exciting year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, seeing new champions crowned, emerging top contenders plus returning cage warriors returning to better form. If you weren’t able to catch all the UFC’s output last year then this DVD for you.

Highlights include the epic battle of champions, Georges ‘Rush’ St Pierre (Welterweight champ), challenged by the then reigning lightweight title holder BJ ‘The Prodigy’ Penn.

Another pivotal title fight was the crowning of new light-heavyweight king Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida, who devastated ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans.

One of the biggest moments of them all had to be at the monumental pay per view – UFC 100. That huge moment there on July 11 being former WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar beating Frank Mir. Yes, ‘the next big thing’ stamped his moniker on Mir and the heavyweight division, thus avenging his only MMA lost.

Along with dominant champions, 2009 saw a huge return for octagon icon Chuck Liddell. The KO loss to Shogun Rua reminded us the best is behind the UFC Hall of Famer. Former PRIDE FC legend Rua of course went on to greater glory, putting in a great performance versus Machida, earning a return title fight in 2010.

Still in the LHW bracket, 2009 was the year a UFC great – Tito Ortiz made his return to active MMA competition and the ranks of the UFC. A new arrival making an impact Brazilian Little Nog.

The newer emerging talent featured on the 2 disc set that get a shout are Brits Dan ‘Outlaw’ Hardy, who had a fantastic year, plus Scouser Terry Etim, another rising star from our fair isles. Can’t forget the success of the UK contingent on season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter. Lightweight winner Ross Pearson in particular is a fighter to watch the progress of.

A fight aired at part of TUF 9 finale making the compilation here is Diego ‘Nightmare’ Sanchez facing Clay ‘The Carpenter’ Guida, in possibly the best slug-fest of ‘09.

TUF 10: The Heavyweights receives a mention but here too, but not enough time here given to winner Roy Nelson, a fighter Dana White didn’t seem to appreciate.

The Best of 2009 may not be personally all what you might pick for the DVD but it’s clearly a value for money addition to your MMA DVD collection, boasting 345 minutes worth of ultimate-fighting action in total, including bonus material, peeking behind the scenes of memorable 2009 cage-clashes.

UFC Best Of 2009 is out now on DVD, available direct from www.fightdvd.co.uk and all good retailers.

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

UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar trains with former adversary Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture, ahead of UFC 116 title-fight showdown against challenger Shane Carwin.

The heavyweight clash is the huge money drawing marquee match, for the pay per view fight card, ESPN here in the UK.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Watch the latest hype video for Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, as he prepares for a mid-summer title defence, against Interim champ Shane Carwin, July 3rd at UFC 116.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

UFC 100 - now available on DVD

Back on July 11th 2009 took place the Zuffa brand’s monumental hundredth numbered event. I remember the weekend well having timed my Sky + installation so I had no fear of missing this epic card. The biggest bonus of all the UFC treated those with Sky to the PPV card for free, on an obscure horse racing channel, despite all the Setanta debacle plus hours of extra UFC viewing thrown to boot.

UFC 100 was truly something special, drawing in the punters via a hat-trick of marquee match-ups. Making up that trifecta were all highly anticipated fights 2 of which were contesting over championship title ownership.

Team USA coach Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson versus rival TUF 9 rival, our very own Mike ‘The Count’ Bisping was a fight the fans on both sides of the pond were eager to see, having followed the middleweight contenders coach their nation’s team each week on the MMA reality TV show – The Ultimate Fighter: US vs UK. The outcome of their middleweight showdown was not what I and most British fans hoped for, Bisping was not the best man on the night. Despite the loss for Bisping the bigger disappointment was the way Henderson dived in fist first when his opponent was clearly out of it. It was a brutal move, not good for the sport of MMA, neither was his reaction post fight. If Brit Bisping acted in the same manner smirking, acting all cocky the American crowd would have reacted in a far different way but hey, Mike is the British villain.

The second reason for buying this collectors DVD is Georges ‘Rush’ St Pierre successfully defending his welterweight crown versus Thiago Alves, in gruelling 5 round battle of wills.

The hugest history making moment, making up the third part of the triple main event at the top of the card was the most highly anticipated heavyweight title clash between former pro wrestler Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. Lesnar solidified his thrown, sitting at the top of the UFC heavyweight division, dominating Mir in brutal style, thus avenging his only MMA loss. In the process he shut up Mir and all the doubters.

Disc 2 includes 6 preliminary fights, including UFC hall of famer Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman in action against The Ultimate Fighter 1 light-heavyweight finalist Stephan Bonnar. 44 year old Coleman proves he can still do it versus a man 12 years his junior in this bonus bout.  Further bonus material includes Countdown to UFC 100 plus UFC 100: Behind The Scenes.

UFC 100: Making History is a must have DVD, however it is just a shame they chose to edit some of the post fight interviews and octagon entrances from the live recording. Plus a hall of fame induction ceremony, announcing the new inductees would have completed the package. In the world of pro wrestling the WWE make a huge deal of their Hall of Fame inductions annually at the weekend of Wrestlemania, the UFC would do well to do similar, I’m sure the fight fans would love it.

UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar

Fantastic news, Brock Lesnar has recovered from his illness, likely returning to the octagon in the summer defending his belt.

Click here to see the ESPN video featuring Lesnar alongside UFC President Dana White.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr