Customer Reviews

Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 55: Fury

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

 

 

UFC 55: Fury

October 8, 2005

I honestly love all MMA fighting, but the preliminary bouts were pretty weak at this UFC event.

Dennis Hallman and Jorge Rivera give us the first taste of real MMA fighting. Hallman appears to be in control early on, but he gets gassed early and allows Rivera to quickly turn the tide with strikes. Hallman fights a very uninspired fight. This one is a ultimately a bit of a letdown.

Chris Lytle then takes on Joe "Diesel" Riggs. Riggs takes over at the end of the first round and the fight is soon after stopped due to a cut caused by an elbow. It's a good fight. Lytle is technically sound, he simply lacks the power to compete with Riggs - as was the case when he faced Robbie Lawler.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral v. Chael Sonnen. Sonnen debuts better than I was expecting against such a great fighter. He gives Babalu a solid challenge, but it all ends due to a submission early in the 2nd round.

Ultimate Fighter (Season 1) and UFC sensation Forrest Griffin then faces off against Australian fighter Elvis Sinosic. We all know how Griffin loves a standing fight - and Sinosic obliges him in this bout. Griffin really knows how to make his fights exciting, which would help to explain his recent MMA stardom. I can't wait to see him fight Tito Ortiz in UFC 59.

We follow-up on Griffin's exciting fight with a couple of no-names going at it. Sean Gannon and Brandon Lee Hinkle. Hinkle dominates...

Main event: Andrei Arlovski v. Paul Buentello. Buentello looks intimidated from the very beginning - I got a bad vibe about the fight right off the bat. Buentello knew he needed to get lucky in order to win this fight. Instead, he gets blasted almost immediately. This is one of the quickest heavyweight fights I've seen. Arlovski is a mad man and I don't know who the UFC will be able to find to create a challenge for him.

As always, there are some great behind-the-scenes bonus features. This is certainly not the best UFC event I've seen, but you do get to see Forrest Griffin's 2nd official UFC fight, as well as Andrei Arlovski continue his path of destruction. Not bad.

The other reviewers did a GREAT job already at reviewing this so I just have to back them up. I really liked the fight between the jujitsu champ and the judo guy. They don't know how to punch but it is still fun to watch and learn these guys cyrstal clear techniques in the style they use.

The main match is just horribble. It would have been OK because the main event rarely lives up to expectations but only half of the fights are watchable on this card. I have seen Dennis Hallman too many times and it is amazing that he is still the exact same person. He comes out tough in the first part of the first round, then later in the round dies out, gets punched over an over and then finally in the 3rd round he gives it one last burst. I just don't know how the guy does it. Definitely one of the toughest S.O.B.'s ever that would benifit greatly from better training.

So there about 50 UFC's better than this one, be sure to check them out first.

I've been a fan since 35. I can forgive the main event because Buentello truly was the number one contender. However, I can't forgive the dreadful card. 90% were C-tier fighters who wouldn't qualify as fillers, let alone killers. The fact that Dana White allowed an entire PPV to compose of these hopeless fighters is like swashing a bucket of urine at the face of God. A disgraceful DVD that promises to supply loyal UFC fans with more nightmares than Freddy Kruegar.

As a fan of all MMA and a huge UFC fan, I just want everyone to know that this is the worst UFC in recent memory. If you're looking into your first MMA event, pass on this one (instead, grab the Pride Shockwave event that's being released around the same time).

Horrible match-ups, horrible fights. UFC usually produces great events even in the absence of a star-studded card (like most Pride events), but this is an exception. F-

This Card Was Great The Main Event Was Andrei Arlovski Vs Paul Buentello This Match Lasted Just A Couple Of Seconds But The Knockout Was Great Also Forrest Griffin Fought Elvis On This Card Also On This Card Andrei Arlovski Became The Offical UFC World Heavyweight Champion

Ultimate Fighting Championship is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, currently recognized as the major MMA promotion in North America.

UFC 55 - Fury is perhaps the worst card ever put on by a Mixed Martial Arts organization. This includes minor league companies such as King of the Cage, WEC, or TKO. There is not one competitive fight on this entire show as every fight is horrible mismatched. The main event pits the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Andrei Arlovski against the #1 contender, in Paul Buentello. The fact that Andrei Arlovski is the champion and that Paul Buentello is the #1 contender speaks volumes about the level(or lack thereof) of the UFC heavyweight division. The fight lasts exactly 15 seconds. There isn't a single moderately interesting fight on the undercard, with the possible exception of Renato Sobral vs Chael Sonnen. Forrest Griffin gets a can to further pad his record and the rest of the fights consist of guys most people have never heard of.(and for good reason) Here's a rough spoiler-free rundown of the card:

ALESSIO SAKARA vs RON FAIRCLOTH - 6/10

- Ron who? Sakara is a decent fighter with great hands and he's matched up with a bum in Ron Faircloth. The fight ends in very disappoiting and controversial fashion.

MARCIO CRUZ vs KEIGO KUNIHARA - 2/10

- Yet another mismatch. A BJJ world champion against a fat man with a terrible record.

JORGE RIVERA vs DENNIS HALLMAN - 6/10

- Jorge Rivera has built up a reputation as being the resident UFC tomato can. Joe Silva enjoys matching him up with rising stars and more often than not, Rivera gets beaten very decisively. In this case however, his opponent his just as bad as he is.

JOE RIGGS vs CHRIS LYTLE - 6/10

- The only competitive fight on paper. Unfortunately, yet again the fight turned out to be a mismatch. I give it a decent score because of the brutal elbows thrown by Riggs.

RENATO SOBRAL vs CHAEL SONNEN - 7/10

- The only good fight of the entire night. Renato Sobral is a legitimate top 10 fighter and Chael Sonnen, despite not being great, is a very tough guy.

FORREST GRIFFIN vs ELVIS SINOSIC - 1/10

- Forrest Griffin gets to pad his record by beating on a can. Yawn.

BRANDON LEE HINKLE vs SEAN GANNON - 0/10

- Do you want to know how Sean Gannon got a UFC contract? Well, basically he beat up a large black man in an underground boxing match. Yep, that's it. As expected this fight was nothing short of a joke.

ANDREI ARLOVSKI vs PAUL BUENTELLO - 1/10

- I already echoed my sentiments on this fight above. To reiterate, it lasted exactly 15 seconds.

I'm a huge Mixed Martial Arts fan but I tell it like it is and this event made the UFC look horrible. The UFC is obviously not on the same level as PRIDE, and this event illustrates that point to the highest degree. Never show a friend, family member, or acquaintance this DVD unless you want to risk turning them off Mixed Martial Arts forever.

One of the worst MMA cards in the short history of this young sport. As Mixed martial Arts (MMA)is finally turning into an acceptable sport in the eyes of the public, the UFC is being blinded by profit. With the recent sucsess of the UFC's "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, The UFC is able to parlay the percieved sucsess and percieved ability of the reality show's "B Class" fighters into fight cards that look apealling to the untrained eye. This allows the UFC to produce cards that are affordable for them (b class fighters are cheaper), while at the same time showcasing the new fans' "heros". Is this the direction Dana White (President of Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC)really wants to go? My prediction for the UFC is similar to what we see in pro boxing: Pay per view events that are lackluster with undercards that only serve as teasers to the main event. Sorry, I just had to vent.

This card was TERRIBLE. Arlovski is a tremendous althlete, but almost anytime he fights it is against a far less gifted opponent (not his fault, the UFC has a weak HW division). The UFC is protecting their champions (think Hughes v Trigg 1 and 2 or Liddell v Horn) Please do not waste you money on this event. Other UFC's and Pride Fc CARDS ARE WAY BETTER.

First of all, pay no attention to the lame reviews at the bottom of this page. I do not know what event those folks were watching, but it did not seem to be this one. Can't please everyone, but come on... this was an extremely entertaining event to see! It is true that the card was not the most compelling on paper, but the match-ups were solid and the fights were exciting.

When you see this for the first time I am pretty sure that like the rest of us, you will think that the main event was wrongly stopped. You will only think that until the replay though. It was a brutal KO punch that landed only 15 seconds into the fight. Quick as it was, there is NO denying the fact that it was indeed a brutal KO.

The fights were great even if the card was not stacked with all top name fighters. A must see.

Now, on to the troubling part of this review. Studioworks has taken a new approach to the menus and overall layout to the DVD. Simply put, it sucks. The 'old' menus and layout looked amazing. Very proffessional in every aspect. They looked sharp and were easy to navigate. The 'new' menus on the other hand are ugly, convoluted, and unwieldy. To tell the truth they look amaturish and not worthy of the standard of excellence that is the UFC (the super bowl of MMA events).

The saving grace of all this is that A: the behind the scenes footage is fantastic and worth every second, and B: the problem of removing all between fights/rounds talking by the commentators has been fixed. Once again we get to hear what is going on in the sport between rounds and before and after fights. Kudos to Zuffa and Studioworks for fixing this.

Overall, this is a must own. BUY IT!!

I was in attendance at UFC 55 at Mohegan Sun, and feel that it has gotten a bad rap, both from the previous reviews and in general. I will start by saying it wasn't the strongest card ever, that goes without saying. Also Sean Gannon clearly was not ready to fight at that level. With that said, there were some legimitately exciting fights on this card.

For starters, it showcased the talents of rising stars Alessio Sakara and Marico Cruz for the first time in the UFC, both of whom put on impressive performances. Also without giving away any results, there were some impressive battles, including Jorge Rivera vs Dennis Hallman, Joe Riggs vs Chris Lytle, Babalu vs Team Quest fighter Chael Sonnen, and Forrest Griffin vs Elvis Sinosic in a classic slug fest. These were all action packed fights.

And while the main even ended rather quickly...hey, that's the way MMA goes. Is it the fault of the event as a whole?

In closing, give this UFC event a chance, it is worthwhile!