UFC 100: MAKING HISTORY DVD REVIEW
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.
Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion at UFC 98 dazzling Rashad Evans with his elusive hybrid Karate MMA style for the win. Going back to the old school of Ultimate Fighting in the pre Zuffa era the battle of the two warriors locked in the cage were seeking to prove their martial art the supreme fighting style as Jiu Jitsu expert fought Taekwon Do master and shoot wrestlers fought boxers. As time has gone on and the sport has evolved out of the human cockfighting stage to be renamed Mixed Martial Arts establishing itself fully fledged sport with rules instead of no holds barred, plus it had been developed into a complete fighting discipline combining elements of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, boxing and kick boxing. So to have Lyoto Machida emerge from a background as a traditional Karate practioner is very refreshing and interesting for the development of MMA.