BlurayMMA.com

A jubilant Michael Bisping at UFC 105, Manchester.

UFC 105, another action packed DVD release from the Ultimate Fighting Championship and FightDVD.  This fight card was the most recent UFC event on British soil, held in Manchester.

Legendary hall of famer Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture fought in the top spot versus Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera. Vera formerly a hotly tipped future champ who beat former heavyweight title-holder Frank Mir. At UFC 105 Vera aimed to return to that same form. For Couture this match-up was his first octagon outing following the recent decision to drop a weight bracket back down to light-heavyweight.

The main event billed contest, in all honesty wasn’t the most exciting bout. The Natural did enough to edge out a tick in the ‘W’ column, using his patented clinch game, trapping Vera against the fence coupled with dirty boxing.

Value for money is evident however from the British contingent representing their homeland.

Co-main event position on the fight card goes to English Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy, taking on American Ultimate Fighter veteran Mike ‘Quick’ Swick. On the line for this one was a shot at Georges St Pierre’s coveted welterweight strap.  So stakes were high. Hardy the Mohicanned-Midlander, impressed earning his shot for GSP’s gold at UFC 111. A points win , getting the job done to earn a place in history, as the first ever mixed martial artist to challenge a UFC champion.

Next on the bill saw Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping return to winning ways, following the brutally devastating knock-out loss to Dan Henderson back at the monumental UFC 100 on July 11th 2009. The TUF 3 winner Bisping clashed with French born, former Pride FC competitor Denis Kang , giving the Brit MMA superstar the opportunity to shine.  Despite a rocky start getting floored by his opposition Kang, Bisping defied the odds.

The Count overwhelmed Kang, utilising a ground and pound attack, repeatedly taking his opponent to the canvas, until gaining the TKO win.

Elsewhere you’ll witness another British Ultimate Fighter put in a fantastic performance, as Ross Pearson brutalises American Aaron Riley.

Look out for Nick Osipaczak and Terry in their respective preliminary bouts, 2 Brit battlers who do not fail to entertain.

UFC 105 – a DVD you must have in your collection, as a supporter of home-grown world calibre MMA talent, however it’s a shame some cage entrance music is missing, including Blur’s song used by Bisping and post fight interviews plus The Count’s celebration exhibition match with his son. Notably Andre Winner vs Roli Delgado got the chop from the FightDVD release.

Despite taking a little away you do receive bonus material included in the 2 disc package.

UFC 105 – COUTURE vs. VERA is out now on DVD, available direct from www.fightdvd.co.uk, HMV and all good retailers.

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

UFC DVD review by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

It was time for the Brits to shine again this past Saturday night as the Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the MEN Arena in Manchester for their latest offering, with Randy Couture and Brandon Vera going at it in the main event of UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera, shown live here in Britain on ESPN, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The broadcast began with Ultimate Fighter 9 lightweight winner Ross Pearson making his UFC debut proper against Aaron Riley. This was a hell of a debut for Pearson, as he put in a dominating performance, controlling the flow of the fight from the beginning, with Riley looking very tentative. Pearson looked great in all aspects, and he probably would have finished the fight himself if the doctors hadn’t stopped it, with Riley having sustained a nasty cut, courtesy of a Pearson flying knee. Good stuff from Pearson here, giving us Brits another fighter to keep an eye on.

Then it was on to James Wilks taking on Matt Brown at welterweight. Wilks looked good to begin with, but as the fight progressed Brown really got into his game, controlling the fight and putting in some nice work. He may well have got the submission win with a triangle in the second round, but the clock was against him. Wilks looked exhausted as the third round started, and it looked like he was about to stage something of a comeback until a sustained ground and pound attack from Brown earned him the TKO win. Another very good fight, with Brown in particular looking great.

Fight three was the proverbial blink and you’ll miss it affair, with Andre Winner facing Rolando Delgado in a lightweight encounter. Delgado went for a few knees and kicks early on, but a big right from Winner sent him crashing to the mat. It wasn’t long before Winner unloaded with the big right hand again, and this one completely knocked Delgado out as he fell to the ground like a sack of spuds, ending a very impressive performance from Winner here.

Britain’s most popular mixed martial artist, Michael Bisping, was up next, looking to get his career back on track as we went up against Denis Kang in a middleweight bout. Kang came into this one with a big reputation, and many people thought that this would be a cake walk for the former Pride star, and he put on a good display in the first round with his ground game. However, Bisping proved to be his equal, quickly shaking off the right hand that had knocked him down to put on a tremendous defensive display. So having been on the defensive in the first round, Bisping went on the offensive in the second, scoring with numerous take downs. When Bisping went for the ground and pound after the second take down, Kang got busted open, and from there you could tell it was only a matter of time, with the referee calling a halt to proceedings when Kang failed to respond to Bisping’s final ground and pound onslaught, earning him the TKO win in what was possibly the best performance of his career.

The second blink and you’ll miss it affair came next, with Alexander Gustafsson facing Jared Hamman in a light heavyweight fight. This one began as a slugfest, but soon saw Hamman down on the mat after a Gustafsson right. Brief ground and pound followed, but Hamman was out of it by the time the referee stepped in. A short but impressive display from Gustafsson here as he earned the TKO win.

The big welterweight fight followed, with Mike Swick facing Dan Hardy for a possible shot at Georges St-Pierre’s title. This may have been the best fight on the night, a great encounter between two fighters looking to get that big fight. Both men put on a good display in an even looking first two rounds, with Hardy really upping his game in the third, showing some good stand-up and ground work. All in all it was a very good fight, with Hardy getting the unanimous decision after three hard fought rounds, and rightfully so. This writer hopes that he gets that well deserved title shot.

The main event saw Randy Couture returning to the light heavyweight division to face a man who had recently gone down there himself, Brandon Vera. To say that the Natural got a great reception would be an understatement. This fight proved to be a little controversial to say the least. Couture’s game plan was to use his wrestling skills against Vera, and this involved controlling his opponent up against the cage. If truth be told, Couture did a good job here, but it was in the third round that many thought Vera had won it, rocking Couture with his punches and causing damage to his ribs with several great kicks. But this just didn’t seem to be enough in the eyes of the judges, with all three giving the fight to Couture, which didn’t sit too well with Vera. Many thought that even though Couture had controlled the majority of the fight, the damage Vera caused in the third was enough to get him the win. And I have to admit, I thought Vera had edged it.

In conclusion – the UFC’s latest foray to this side of the pond proved to be a very good show, and a very good advertisement for how far mixed martial arts has come in this country over the past few years, with Ross Pearson, Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy all putting in great performances. As for the main event decision, well, we’ve had two dodgy main event decisions in a row now. Let’s hope we don’t get another one next weekend.

Review courtesy of Julian Radbourne @ www.twoshedsreview.com

Mike 'The Count' Bisping - back to his winning ways

Wow, what a card! I caught the whole 3 hours of UFC 105 live on ESPN at Sharkey’s Pool Bar in Bournemouth last night. There was a few other UFC followers in the bar but I reckon they need to advertise better. Within the Manchester MEN Arena it was a whole different story, the atmosphere judging from the live ESPN broadcast was electric.

Previous to UFC 105 I wasn’t aware of  the reason for the Hardy versus Swick bout receiving the high billing, it was in fact to decide the numebr one challenger for Georges St Pierre’s welter weight crown. I can’t see Hardy beating GSP but it’s brilliant to see a Brit challenge for the UFC gold. GSP isn’t unbeatable though.

Wish I put money on Couture now, thought it would go his way, winning on points. Funny Vera thought he won though, Couture controlled the majority of the fight.

Superb to see Bisping back on top form!  Loved the bit with him and his son post fight.

Andre Winner’s knockout of Delgado looked brutal, it’s a shame he leapt in administering further damage when the guy was already out of it. At least he didn’t look as smug as Dan Henderson at UFC 100, when he did similar to Brit Mike Bisping.

Overall an excellent result for the Brits, I loved it!

A full card report will follow soon from fellow BluRayMMA.com contributor Julian ‘Twosheds’ Radbourne, so keep your browser pointing in this direction.

Visit UFC.com to view the unaired prelim bouts.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

The Friday the 13th video blog from Manchester.

Includes the weigh ins.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

See Dana greet and hand out free tickets to the lucky lads in London for the Manchester UFC event.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

UFC 105 - live from Manchester, England.

Saturday 14th November, Manchester.

This UK card is free for fight fans in the US, who see it live on Spike TV.

Once again another stacked card from the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Get ready for a big one as the UFC makes a highly anticipated return to our fair isle with more world class octagon action. We are in for a rare treat, as the legendary UFC Hall of Famer Randy ‘The Natural Couture’ lands on British soil plus there will tons of hopeful Brits battling it out in the big league from the Manchester MEN Arena.

Here is a peek at the top of the of the UK card.

Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera

Randy Couture and Brandon Vera collide in a light-heavyweight showdown. This is Randy Couture’s first matchup back in the light-heavyweight division since stepping down a weight bracket following 2 losses in a row. One he got pounded on by the powerful champ, The Vanilla Gorilla – Brock Lesnar and the second a close contest against tougher than leather Brazilian veteran Minotauro Nogueira. It is fair to say Randy fought the best and put up a damn good spirited fight in both octagon outings but he knew the time had come to step down a division.

Now the former heavyweight and light-heavyweight title holder is intent on another crack at UFC gold, this time he wants the light-heavyweight strap once more. To work back up the ladder first he must defeat heavy hitting young gun Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera.

So here we have the story of age versus experience, can the youthful Vera beat the canny dirty-boxing Couture? Vera is a dangerous Muay Thai Kick-boxer, both guys can utilise the clinch work here, striking at close quarters. I see Couture relying heavily on his strong wrestling background and gaining the advantage on the canvas. The fight may well go the distance in favour of the Hall of Famer – Couture. Randy is an inspiration, who seems to magnificently defy Father Time, coming back following defeat, still competing at the elite level. Has he still got it? That question will be answered Saturday night.

Mike ‘Quick’ Swick vs Dan Hardy

It’s interesting to note despite Bisping’s pulling power Dan Hardy is receiving higher billing on the UK card. Mike Bisping is one of the most recognised fighters who made a name for himself via season 3 of the Ultimate Fighter, then went on to further success with the ranks of the Zuffa owned league. Hardy however is the new kid on the block now making a name for himself getting noticed due to impressive performances inside the cage.

Much like fellow Brit Bisping, Dan knows how to sell a fight bringing his own heat doing all the smack talk when required. Previously we’ve seen Hardy talk the talk and back it all up when it came down to the crunch in octagon action paired up with Marcus ‘Irish Hand Grenade’ Davis. Hardy riled up Davis pre fight, then beat the Irish American, Hardy showed what a true sport he was but sore loser Davis did not display the same qualities afterwards. With Hardy it is all business, the guy wants to entertain and get noticed.

Dan’s opponent will be Mike Swick, who most recently beat Ultimate Fighter alumini Ben Saunders. It will be interesting to see how Hardy fares as he steps up against Swick. Let’s hope his momentum continues.

Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang

The pressure in on for Mike Bisping, on the rebound from the devasting knockout loss at the hands of Dan Henderson back on July 11th at UFC 100. Bisping is embarrassed at his loss handed to him by Henderson but the Brit has nothing to be ashamed of, Henderson is one of the all time greats from Pride FC. Canadian Kang also another tough veteran of the Pride squared-circle. Kang is a man hoping to capitalise on the pressure. Bisping is ever confident, having none of it, intending to prove the doubters wrong. Here’s hoping our countryman Mike Bisping has taken enough time to recover from the devastating KO he received from Hendo at UFC 100 and will be returning to form on his north-western home turf in Manchester.

Also featured on the card will be TUF 9 Team UK winners James Wilks and Ross Pearson.

MAIN CARD

Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera

Mike Swick vs Dan Hardy

Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang

James Wilks vs Matt Brown

Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley

PRELIMINARY CARD

Terry Etim vs Shannon Gugerty

Paul Taylor vs John Hathaway

Nick Osipczak vs Matthew Riddle

Paul Kelly vs Dennis Siver

Alexander Gustafsson vs Jared Hamman

Andre Winner vs Rolando Delgado

UFC 105 Countdown starts at 7pm on ESPN and ESPN HD, then watch UFC 105 live at 8pm in the UK .

UK EXCLUSIVE – Two of England’s own battle it out before the live broadcast of UFC 105 – see Paul Taylor and John Hathaway go head-to-head free on UFC.com at 7:30pm.

You can also view this huge MMA event live world wide at UFClive.com

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Dana White announces that he will be Twittering off tickets!

Try saying that double fast!

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com