Customer Reviews

Ultimate Fighting Championship Classics, Vol. 1

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, don't let the CLASSICS part of the title fool you. This is not just another "Greatest Hits" DVD (of which there are already way too many). This is the entire first Ultimate Fighting Championship - UFC 1. It features such stars as Royce Gracie (currently making his comeback) and Ken Shamrock. Both men are legends in MMC. The quality is great. Like many other people I have been buying the old videos and burning my own DVDs. I'd much rather have the old UFCs in factory DVD. I can't imagine why they are not listing this in the UFC store online. When everyone catches on, this is going to sell like hotcakes. So far only UFC 1 and UFC 2 have been released, but surely they will go on to 3 and 4 all the way up to 38 when they see how well this sells. (39 and up are already available on DVD). Do not panic when your screen seems to jump all around during the introductions. It is just a special effect they tried. It stops when the fights begin. The announcers are the legendary football great Jim Brown and one of the greatest fighters of all time Mr. Superfoot Wallace who has done everything from PKA Karate to bodygaurding (and training) John Belushi.

They don't make them like they use to and this cannot be stressed more than in the short life of Mixed Martial Arts. In the days before it even had a name (prior to NHB), MMA in United States was only legal in one state and advertised as a "no rules" event. The first installment of this groundbreaking event took place in Denver 's McNichols Arena on November 12, 1993 and formatted in a 8-Man tournament scheme. With Rorion Gracie, Art Davies, and Robert Meyrowitz at the helm the UFC was born and competitive fighting would never be the same.

From the Gracie family's point-of-view a tournament like the UFC would be the ideal platform to show the world their family martial arts system that had dominated Brazil for the better of 60 years. While many consider Grandmaster Helio Gracie as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu's (or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) leader, it was his eldest son Rorion who had the vision to expand Gracie Jiu-Jitsu beyond Brazil to the United States . After setting up shop, the next question would be who from the impressive (and accomplished) stable of Gracies would represent the family in the tournament. Rickson Gracie was the family champion and most respected out of the clan, but his more aggressive style was thought of as not suitable to fully exhibit the subtleness and style Rorion wanted to portray. Young Royce was the choice and immediately many questioned if he would even last one fight. Royce was a tall and slender 176 pound young man that at first glance would not be considered to be dangerous. He was though the perfect subject for Rorion to show the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Other notable fighters in the tournament included:

Savate champion Gerard Gordeau who was known in the kickboxing world as a lethal striker.

Shootfighter Ken Shamrock who was experienced in the Pancrase organization in Japan that was similar to the UFC.

Kickboxer Pat Smith had established himself as a strong full-contact karate and kickboxer.

The first fight really set the tone for the tournament as it shocked fans, commentators, and the fighters as well. Fans were puzzled and astonished, commentators were left stunned not really knowing what to say, and the fighters expecting a "tough man" type of fight were scared straight.
A fight with limited rules and no time limit really threw off fighters use to the confinements of their respected arts/competition, but what many fighters clearly did not process was any skill on the ground. Aside from Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie no other fighter really knew what to do on the ground and this would be their downfall.

After the night was over, an elated winner was asked what he would do with his winnings; he responded "...going to Disneyland ", a fitting statement considering the importance of this event.

In 1994 very few outside of Brazil had heard of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There were no well known national or inter-national MMA events. There was no Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Quinton Jackson, Sakuraba, or Matt Hughes. Bas Ruten may as well have been a fish delicacy from Denmark.

I had studied TKD and Karate and still enjoyed the naivette that I could defend myself, maybe, against a bigger stronger opponent. The question that had always bothered a lot of martial artists was whether there was a 'Best' fighting art? Was there a style or training method that worked consistently? Most instructors never even attempted to answer the question. You studied the way that you did because that's what you were told to do.

Enter 'The Ultimate Fighting Championship', a tournament pitting some of the best martial artists, from a variety of fighting styles, against each other in a no-holds-barred competition with no time limit. It was sold as the ultimate bar brawl. It caught the attention of politicians, decrying it as a disgusting display of human barbarism, a throwback to Caligula and the Roman Coliseum. The outcry only made it more appealing to any kid who loved Kung Fu movies.

I remember watching this event, excited, like I was breaking a taboo that I was not aware existed. This wasn't going to be like boxing, which had lost all excitement and appeal for my generation for various reasons. I thought I was knowledgeable about fighting. I was wrong. It was clumsy, ungraceful, every style devolved once the fighters were let go. The reality of fighting washed away the artifice of my instructors and the illusions created in movies. This was real fighting, and it was mostly ugly.

Royce Gracie, the 'R' pronounced like an 'H', a man who had come to prove that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was the greatest martial art of all time. He was small, seemed humble, walking in with his family in a train. He got no respect from me or the audience. I thought he'd be out pretty quickly.

I can't remember the details very well because I had no idea what I was watching. I'd never heard of an armbar, rear-naked choke, or triangle. I watched him hanging upside down while holding on to a guys arm in what appeared to be the most unnatural position. I misread the game completely, thinking that he was about to lose. But he never did. All the other fighters tapped.

Today, BJJ is standard issue in MMA. It's combined with punching and kicking to make a complete modern fighter. But in 1994 it was something unique, scary even. Royce is a legend. For anyone who grew up watching MMA events like Pride and the UFC, if you haven't seen this one, you don't know how much has changed, how far we have come. Today there are rules, rounds, and time limits. All wonderful things that help ensure that fighters can come back to fight another day. But back then it was uncharted territory for the brave, if not downright crazy, men who jumped in that octagon. They winner would have to survive multiple fights, for very little money. It was amazing.

I would have given this (along with UFC 2) a five star rating if the production value and special features would have been a little bit more polished. It seems like a rather half assed job on both as far as I am concerned. With the magnitude of what these early events stand for, I had really hoped that they would have gone all-out on the special features... considering what these events have lead to. Let's face it folks, this DVD is literally the birth of a new sport. Not just ANY sport mind you, but the ABSOLUTE ruler of all sports. MMA was born on the day of this event, and for that reason alone you should buy this DVD... you are actually buying a little slice of history.

One word of caution for those of you who are relatively new to this sport... this is not the same UFC that you are seeing on pay per view and spike TV. This is raw. This is brutal. Everything from the terrible referees, to the terrible commentating speaks volumes about how far this sport has come. If you do not know what Royce Gracie and his family have done for the world of Martial Arts, and the sport of MMA, this is the place to start learning. Before the Gracies, cross training was virtually non-existant. Wrestlers were wrestlers. Karate was Karate. Kick boxing was Kick boxing etc. After Royce, EVERYONE learned BJJ.

Buy this... it is part of history!

This is where the tremendously underrated but extremely exciting sport of mixed martial arts all began. Starting as an experiment to take fighters of various backgrounds, and pit their respective styles against each other, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship was the shot heard round the martial arts world.

The real allure here is the emergence of the now legendary Royce Gracie (of the famous Gracie family, founders of the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), a lanky, wiry unknown who tore through fighters of all kinds: boxers, taekwondo black belts, even the monstrous Ken Shamrock, who outweighed him by nearly 100 pounds. This competition proved the effectiveness of this mostly unheard-of fighting style, and helped set the standards for martial arts competitions in the future. Today's fighters train more along these lines, and the UFC, as well as other organizations like Pride and K1, have taken off in popularity as a result. Not only that, but Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has also become a more popular form of self-defence (I'm thinking of taking it up myself), and is also being taught in the military and law enforcement. In short, the Gracies changed everything, and certainly for the better.

Overall, the fights here aren't nearly as exciting as today's fights (Gracie and Shamrock are the only really notable fighters here) but this event was important in getting everything started, and a pivotal point in the history of martial arts. Essential viewing for any mixed martial arts fan.

This dvd has got 2 be in your collection if u like MMA. Ufc1 is where it all started,Don't come in looking for 15 minute long fights u'll be sorely disappointed. What this dvd shows is that some styles just are fairly useless in a street fight, which ufc1 was (no rules!!) it gives u a chance to see guys that specialise in one single art..other than now where everybody is a grappler.... and it also shows royce gracie's american coming out party...trust me watch this dvd and see why this guy became feared and a legend!

Even if Royce happens to lose to matt hughes, he is still the greatest ufc fighter of all time, he ruled the octagon when there was no rules, no time limits, no rounds, and when u got choked by him or arm barred it was the real thing. Hopefully he still fights with that same intensity, and he will teach the young great hughes a lesson. Hughes probably wouldn't even be champ now if they hadn't got rid of Evye Edwards. The best out of the first five is the third and the fourth one, where my man and underated Keith Hackney showed that he was no joke. UFC is the house the Royce Gracie built and always will be!!!!!!

For all of the current UFC fighters, the ones who didn't follow UFC when u had to pay 16.95 to get it on pay-per-view in 1994-95, this is what real fighting is all about. Imagine man to man until someone gives, on half of the fights people were getting knocked out and choked, but didn't know how to tap properly, so they were just taking a full contact beating. Now you wobble one time they stop the fight. The crazies or fighters in the early stages of UFC were straight toe to toe brawlers Ron Von Clef at 51 fighting a young 27 year Royce Gracie, that's crazy!!! You want the real in ultimate fighting take from one to about 15 where Coutoure first arrived and upset a brutual martial artist in Maurice Smith. Can't wait to get all of the first 15 on DVD. But #1 the introduction to Royce will always be the greatest!!!!

UFC 1

Let it be known there are SPOILERS on here for all those who have never seen it and want to without knowing the outcomes.

Taking place in Denver Colorado the very first Ultimate Fighting Championship event blasted onto the scene and introduced the world to what would become Mixed Martial Arts. People always wondered who would win in a fight, a boxer or a wrestler, a karate guy or tae kwon do guy and so on forever, well that night we would all get to find out. As it turned out none of those guys would win this, the wonderful art [that I practice] Jiu-Jitsu would reign supreme over the course of the night.

1.GERARD GORDEAU [savate] VS TEILA TULI [sumo]-the first fight of the night would pit a massive sumo guy against a savate fighter in the first showing of the night. I know reading that I basically started and ended the sentence with the same thing, but I am excited to be revisiting this again. This fight would set the standard for the early years of the company, flying teeth and blood would make the early days of the sport look bad to the mainstream. The thing is instead of not only looking at that they should have also noticed that the ref stepped in and had the doctors check the fighter. After doing so they called the fight, good call that should have also been noted by the mainstream.

Any way the fight is very short with Tuli rushing Gerard and ends up loosing his balance and falls to the ground. This is where he eats a big kick to the face which cause him to loose some teeth, and also eats a punch that cuts him open.5/5

2.KEVIN ROSIER [kickboxing] VS ZANE FRAZIER [karate]-I remember being real excited about this just knowing that a karate vs kick boxer fight would be fought all on the feet. This turned out to be a great but sloppy fight as a lot of the early day fights were back then. The fight is basically a brawl with both guys throwing bombs looking for the quick win. Now both guys are basically kick boxers really at least in style and maybe even take the others style a bit. If you watch this fight and know about these styles it is very obvious that while Zane is the kempo karate guy he has a stance more like a boxer or kick boxer. Likewise the labeled kick boxer guy actually stands more in the way of a karate guy, more open and wide with his hands where as the karate guy is in tighter like a boxer. Some times they switch up the stance but each of their styles kinda similar to the others. The fight lasts almost five minutes and kinda goes back and forth until Zane's corner throws in the towel when he takes some vicious head stomps.5/5

3.ROYCE GRACIE [jiu-jitsu] VS ART JIMMERSON [boxing]-this fight would be the introduction to the world of the legendary Royce Gracie and the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu that would dominate. There is not enough time to fully write about Royce and all of the Gracie's, so I will just say they are the most influential family in the history of the sport. This is also the fight in which Art wore one boxing glove and fought with it, it is kinda funny now but then he thought that was the best move. Now this fight goes just like I thought it would back then, Royce takes him down after a few kicks and mounts him. It is in this mount that Royce basically smothers him and Art taps even thought nothing really happened, that is powerful.5/5

4.KEN SHAMROCK [shoot fighting] VS PATRICK SMITH [tae kwon do]-to anyone who had not seen Pancrase this was their first introduction to the now legendary Ken Shamrock. Shamrock was then likely considered the favorite to win sense he was the closest to a mixed martial artist. I say likely because to most of the public here in America this was all new to them, but since it was reported and even said during the show Shamrock could fight standing and on the ground I am sure he was considered one the favorites. His shoot fighting style was going up against the Korean national sport in tae kwon do, the fight does not last long. Going just over a minute I think, Ken gets it to the ground and locks on a leg lock [ankle lock] and forces Pat to tap. Then after the fight Pat starts it back up again and wants to go again.5/5

5.GERARD GORDEAU [savate] VS KEVIN ROSIER [kickboxing]-this was the first semi final fight and was very quick much like Gordeau's previous fight. And just like that first fight it ends with Gerard standing over a downed injured opponent. After a nice flurry of punches and elbows he ends Kevin with a few stomps. Another quick and exciting fight.5/5

6.ROYCE GRACIE [jiu-jitsu] VS KEN SHAMROCK [shoot fighting]-now this was the fight that every one was looking forward to, with the two submissions artists going at it. But unlike what people were thinking this fight is actually pretty short, and much shorter than the rematch would end up being later on. Royce comes out quick with a take down attempt and eventually gets Ken in his guard. When tries for a leg lock Royce rides the momentum and ends up on top, eventually taking Ken's back and choking him out. The ref does not see the tap so there is some confusion at first but Ken lets him know he tapped.5/5

7.GERARD GORDEAU [savate] VS ROYCE GRACIE [jiu-jitsu]-the final is much like every other fight on the card, very short. Of course as all of you know Gracie dominated the tournament and this fight. Royce clinches with him and ties him up, eventually getting him to the ground. Gerard has only one offensive move, biting Royce's ear. Then he gives up the back after a few head buts, and of course a rear naked choke ends everything. Royce Gracie is the first Ultimate Fighting Champion, history is made in Denver.5/5

This is one of the most historic events in the history of Martial Arts and yes there were events before this one. Those of course were the Vale Tudo events in Brazil [love those old tapes] and of course the open challenges from the Gracies [love those old Gracie's in action tapes]. Then of course the Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling events in Japan, still it would be this event on November 12 1993 that would lead to what we know today. It should also be noted that the winner would win 50,000 dollars and an alternate bout was held in which Jason DeLucia defeated Trent Jenkins. There is also some nice hall of fame interviews from Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock on the DVD.

UFC 1 is the first mega event that brought mixed martial arts to the American people and media. It took place on November 12, 1993 at Denver, Colorado and was touted as a MMA event that had " No rules, No scores, and No time limits". It featured different styles of martial arts and fighting against each other. It was broken into 4 fights with 8 fighters.

Fight 1 featured Gerard Gordeau (Savate) vs Teila Tuli (Sumo)
Fight 2 featured Kevin Rosier (kickboxing) vs Zane Frazier (Karate)
Fight 3 featured Royce Gracie (Jiu-Jitsu ) vs Art Jimmerson (Boxing)
Fight 4 featured Ken Shamrock (Shootfighting) vs Pat Smith (Tae Kwon Do)

The fights were entertaining, but very short. Seeing 410 pd Tuli rummble after Gerard was crazy, and seeing boxer Art Jimmerson try to fight Royce with one boxing on his left hand was ridiculous. The Royce/Jimmerson was the worst, with Jimmerson basically tapping after Gracie took him down and lied on him. The event champion earned $50,000, and went on to become a MMA household name.

The DVD is pretty bare as far as added features go. There are just the fights, plus 2 interviews with Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie.

As other have recommended, this is a must DVD for MMA fans to see where it all started, and how far MMA has come today!

I have been dieing to be able to get this on DVD. I love the original fights. This shows Royce Gracie at his best and also the start of the feud between Royce and Ken Shamrock! This is a must for any Martial Arts fan!