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UFC 115: Liddell vs Franklin

Starting with the main fight card on disc 1 of this 2 DVD set is a battle of the welterweight contenders between Rory McDonald and former WEC champ Carlos Condit. The all actions scrap is full of suspense. Home-town favourite McDonald puts in a brilliant performance, but veteran Condit comes back to bag the win by TKO in stunning fashion in the third stanza.

Dutch former PRIDE FC & Affliction bad-boy striker Gilbert Yvel makes an appearance versus former IFL heavyweight Ben Rothwell, but doesn’t entertain in this one sided encounter against powerful wrestler Rothwell.

Next up another showdown from the welters: Paulo Thiago facing Martin Kampmann, in a Denmark vs Brazil match-up. Evenly matched, both competitors are dangerous in their own right, at least on paper.

Not one of the most enthralling fights, the Canadian fans were like a library throughtout. Kampmann dominates but unable to finish Thiago.

Super-strikers Crop Cop and Pat Berry cross swords next as the heavyweights collide in the octagon. A must-see bout, featuring stacks of hard hitting stand-up action, from 2 of the greatest current kick-boxers in the MMA game.

Best of all is the huge surprise tap-out win for Mirko in the final 30 seconds of the allotted 15 minutes. You gotta see it to believe it! Just a shame Cro Cop’s Duran Duran entrance theme is absent, great ending though.

Finally the highly anticipated main event featuring 2 legendary names of the octagon – Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell and Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin. This match-up is a dream fight, Liddell the former Light Heavyweight champ and Franklin a former Middleweight title holder.

Liddell – one to leave it all behind in the cage loses to tactition Franklin, via a nasty KO blow. Awesome performance from Ace. Hold onto this DVD, could be the last appearance in the UFC for the Iceman. Amazing knock-out, a short but thrilling encounter.

You’ll find all the preliminary bouts on disc 2, including Pat Militech protege Jesse Lennox engaging in combat with Extreme Couture alumini Mike Pyle (John Hathaway opponent – UFC 120). Pyle comes out on top, impressing with a submission win in the final seconds.

TUF 9 welterweight winner James ‘Lightning’ Wilks battles German Peter Sobotta. The Brit BJJ specialist grinds out out the win, returning to winning ways.

A touch of controversy is found in the form of Mac Danzig versus Matt Wiman. The bout starts off well but sees Danzig robbed. Wiman’s with Danzig in a choke-hold,  informs the ref his opponent is out. Fight is over, Danzig jumps to his feet, clearly OK, wanting to continue. Unfortunately the fight couldn’t be restarted. Here’s hoping the UFC will give the fans a rematch, who’ll want to see it as will both fighters I’m sure.

The must-see countdown show on disc 2 features some added glamour thanks to Liddell’s girlfriend Heidi Northcut, an inspiration to him, a fitness fanatic herself. As ever the feature aids to get you hyped up for the marquee match-ups.

Behind the scenes boasts extra unseen footage of Pat Berry, Cro Cop, Liddell and Franklin leading towards their cage clashes and their thoughts post fight. You are also treated to 15 minutes of Chuck’s greatest rivalries with fighters Jeremy Horn, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.

Another neat package from FightDVD, go grab one!

UFC 115 – Liddell vs. Franklin 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 DVD review by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

The Battle of the Giants - AKA the battle of the Bobs.

Press Release

BILOXI, Miss. (May 21, 2009) – Fresh off his 24-second destruction of Mike Cook, former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley called his June 27th showdown against Bob “The Beast” Sapp in the “Ultimate Chaos” pay-per-view event headliner, live from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi, the “Battle of the Giants.”

Ultimate Chaos,” presented by Prize Fight Promotions and Fight Force International, in association with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum, Treasure Bay Casino and Budweiser, is being produced and distributed by Gotham MMA and Integrated Sports at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in the United States and Canada on cable and satellite Pay Per View via iNDemand, TVN, DirecTV, Bell TV, Shaw, Star Choice and Viewer’s Choice for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

The 6-2, 255-pound Lashley, 3-time NAIA wrestling champion at Missouri Valley College, is an incredible physical specimen. Bobby joined the U.S. Army and was a 2-time Armed Forces Champion and 2002 Military Games Championship silver medalist. Two years ago, the chiseled Lashley became a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar, joining Donald Trump at Wrestlemania 23 in a bet against WWE president Vince McMahon. Lashley won the match and helped Trump shave McMahon’s head in the ring.

Bobby’s third pro MMA fight was a major hit last weekend as he displayed tremendous power submitting Cook, who had taunted the unbeaten Lashley by wearing a pro wrestling-type mask into their fight, with a near spine-snapping Guillotine choke. Bobby looked like a much more polished MMA fighter than he did in his previous three-round decision against Jason Guida.

“He tried to get in my head but I wasn’t going to let him,” Bobby explained. “He probably saw that the opponent in my previous fight had gotten a little in my head, but I learned from that experience and just shrugged it off this time. I trained hard and knew I was ready for that fight. My cardio was great and I worked on my boxing. I’ve reached a level of validation. When he put that mask on, I was only concerned with being validated to my opponent. The WWE thing will always be there, whether I have three or 300 MMA fights, but I’m glad that I have that WWE fanbase.”

Lashley fights a larger man for the first time in MMA action when he steps into the cage against an imposing 6-4, 350-pound Sapp (10-3-1), who played in the NFL for four years before becoming an iconic combat fighter in Japan, where he starred in PRIDE and K-1.

“Most heavyweights (in MMA) weigh 230-240 and that’s the size of guys I’ve fought,” Lashley said. “But I’m fighting a huge opponent in this coming fight. This guy must have weighed 370 at the press conference. Even if he gets down to 340, he’ll still outweighs me by around 85 pounds. Sapp’s really aggressive and I know he’s going to come out hard. He won’t be able to go through me, though. He’s strong but his weakness is in the gas tank, even though I know he’s training hard for this fight. It’s going to be a good fight.

“We liked this fight when it was first offered. When I fight there’s always been a ‘but’ after it. It was a good fight but …….fill in the blank. Well, I’m fighting a bigger guy who’s popular overseas. I don’t think this fight will go long. It certainly won’t be a long, drawn-out fight. There will be a lot of heavy blows, lots of banging – ‘Battle of the Giants!’ I’m training right now back home in Colorado. I like working in the altitude but I’ll probably make a brief trip to train (with American Top Team) in Florida where there are a lot of big guys at our fight club. I may have to stack three guys up (to simulate Sapp, Bobby jokingly said). I have some big guys here I’m training with. They not be quite as big as Sapp, but they’re big, very strong and have heavy hands like Bob.”

Controversial Dutch heavyweight Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel (35-13-3) takes on 3-time UFC title challenger Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo (16-8-0) in an intriguing co-feature. Former King Of The Cage and Gladiator Challenge champion Javier “Showtime” Vasquez (12-2-0) meets dangerous lightweight Din “Dinyero” Thomas (24-8-0), star of The Ultimate Fighter 4; Canadian lightweight sensation Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (12-1-0) faces 4-time World Muay Thai champion William “The Bull” Sriyapai (12-4-0).

Also fighting on the card are welterweights Brett Cooper (8-4-0) vs. Waachiim “Native Warrior” Spirit Wolf (5-4), Affliction vice president Tom Atencio (1-0) vs. pro debuting lightweight Randy Hedderick, middleweight James Orso (8-3-0) vs. Colby McMahan (3-1-0), The Ultimate Fighter 3 star Danny Abbadi (3-4-0) vs. veteran middleweight Lance Thomson (4-2-0); welterweight Eric Bradley (2-1-0), 2-time All-America wrestler and 2003 NCAA boxing champion at Penn State, vs. Belfast, Northern Ireland brawler Colin McKee (3-2-0). All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Tickets are priced at $25.00 (limited discount seating), $40.00 (general admission) and $55.00 (premium reserved seating) and sale at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and all TicketMaster outlets.

For more information go to www.theultimatechaos.com, www.fightforce.org or www.mscoastcoliseum.com. Doors open at 5PM/CT, first fight 6 PM/CT, and the first PPV fight is at 8 PM/CT.

- So there we have it’s now 100% official! I am just hoping Bravo or another satellite channel in the UK grab the chance to air this for us MMA fans not stateside.

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane