Customer Reviews

Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 69: Shoot Out

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

 

 

- Breaks in between rounds are cut

- No prefight/postfight interview, except main event

- No replay of the KO... or analysis of something in slomo.

- No victory celebration from the winning fighter... everything is cut.

- Main Menu setup looks extremely cheap starting from UFC 69.

Honestly, I don't understand... usually the tendencies are, that the quality of a product gets better with time. Clearly not the case with UFC DVDs. The last DVD that has prefight/postfight interviews to my knowledge, was UFC 54, and people made a huge deal about it. Obviously whoever's in charge of DVDs, doesn't care about the feedback...

On the flipside, if you get a WWE DVD, you get the entire event front to back. Nothing is cut out. All the promos, pyros, entrances, postfight BS, everything is left in there. If you haven't watched pro wrestling in a while, it's like you're watching it LIVE. Not the case with UFC DVDs. The only incentive to buy these DVDs now, is for the prelims. From now, I'm just gonna burn the events on DVD.

One of the many reasons that make MMA a great sport is how quickly things can change and the fact that favorites can go down in a jiffy. In this sense, UFC 69 was a great event, with several great fights and a couple of surprises. However, there are two things that gave me mixed feelings towards this DVD. First, there are a couple of undercard fights that are not good at all, and even more surprisingly, the fight between Sanchez and Koscheck, which I expected to be one of the best in the event, was one of the worst fights I have seen in the sport. The other aspect that I did not like is that since the producers wanted to include nine fights in the DVD, and most of them were lengthy, something had to give. They decided to eliminate most of the usual interviews, the breaks between rounds, and even limit the replays and presentation of the fighters. In my case, I would have preferred to see one less of the undercard fights and get all the previous elements. I can understand that some people may disagree and prefer the fights, so those will be happy with the decision.

As to the fights themselves, there are four that I can point out as outstanding. In Sell vs. Leites, the winner of the fight puts on a clinic of Ju-Jitsu, ground and pound, and submission defense. Grove vs. Belcher starts out the main card with some amazing striking and a beautiful submission to decide the bout. Huerta vs. Garcia is a fight with lots of action, striking with fists and feet, ground and pound, you name it. Finally, the main fight of the night is electrifying, not only because of its technical aspects, but also due to the energy level of the gladiators and the crowd.

To sum it all up, there are some great fights here, but the overall quality of the DVD is damaged by some of the bouts and by the poor decision-making by the producers.

For those who were lucky to see the event live, I envy you. This event definately stands out from the past few as it had it all. It had knockouts, a darce choke, pillow fist punches from the mount, a leg lock, comedy on the microphone, and most importantly: the biggest upset in UFC history.

If there was a time for the saying "anything can happen in MMA", Matt Serra (11-1 underdog) proved it with his dynamite fists and knocking off and out George St. Pierre. Remember, George St. Pierre was just about to start his legacy with title defenses and most likely become the greatest welterweight in the post-Hughes era. But all that was derailed as Serra walked away with the win and the gold.

Who still believes in the saying "nice guys finish last"?

The biggest disappointment of this card was the Koschek/Sanchez fight. A major letdown for what should have been a slugfest. However, the main event made up for it, as Matt "The Terror" Serra made all the doubters and skeptics eat a major slice of crow by shocking the world and upsetting a very talented and capable George "Rush" St. Pierre to win the welterweight title. (SIDE NOTE: Travis Lutter, TUF 4 middleweight winner who blew a golden opportunity by failing to make weight for his bout against middleweight champ Anderson Silva, should take a lesson from Serra.)

As good a Serra is, nobody gave him a snowball's chance in the hot spot of winning. It just goes to show how unpredictable MMA is. Serra's TKO victory over GSP (who, by the way, has nothing to feel bad about and I'm sure will be back in winning form before long) was just one in a series of stunning UFC upsets.

Overall, it was a pretty good fight card.

I ordered this PPV live, so this review is being done after only seeing one undercard match. The main event was shocking and exciting, but ended very quickly. Koscheck and Sanchez totally ruined the PPV. Their match was not only a letdown, but a travesty for two guys who hate each other and have so much talent. Kos even has the nerve to say it was boring, I don't care, I won, pretty much sticking it to the fans. This is one time that the Pride yellow card system could have helped. All that aside...

Two words: Roger Huerta! Although he was more skilled than his opponent, every single fight he is in is spectacular. Huerta saved this PPV from being a total letdown. Kendall Grove was impressive and the fight was entertaining. Mike Swick really did give it his all in his home town, but Okami has the strength of some light heavyweights. They put Cummo vs. Haynes on television, and it was an entertaining fight also. I hear that Heath Herring got back to his old self in this PPV, so I am sure that is good as well. Thats all I got...for the shock factor of Matt Serra winning alone this is worth watching. Hope this helps.

UFC 69
SHOOTOUT

In honor of UFC 98 tonight I am going to review the UFC that happened here in my state, also Matt Serra won the welterweight title on this night. Since I am a huge fan of this Renzo Gracie black I will be cheering for Serra to defeat Matt Hughes [a guy I can not stand]. I like GSP but every time he has faced Serra or BJ Penn I had to go against him, this night live in Texas Serra won the belt.

1.LUKE CUMMO VS JOSH HAYNES-the first fight pits a fighter from The Ultimate Fighter 2 against one from 3. The first round sees both spend time finding each others range and in the clinch. The second round is looking a lot like the first until Luke lands a nice overhand right and it's over, Josh continues to fight though taking the ref down on accident. Team Serra is off to a good start.3.8/5

2.PETE SPRATT VS MARCUS DAVIS-the first round on this one is great as it sees a nice throw and some excellent transitions and reversal attempts. The second round sees a lot more stand up between the two but once it goes down again Davis hooks in an ankle lock and gets the win.4.8/5

3.PETE SELL VS THALES LEITES-Matt Serra's right hand man Sell is back looking for a victory over Leites. Talk about a Jiu-Jitsu clinic and the way the round ends is excellent, these two showcase some great offense and defense in the realm of Jiu-Jitsu. The second round is more about the stand up and some vicious ground and pound, Sell losses the round easy. The third round looks like the first two with Leites dominating Sell, he takes the decision victory.5/5

4.HEATH HERRING VS BRAD IMES-one of my favorite fighters ever and Pride veteran Heath Herring is back and looking to win. The first round is a good one with Heath in trouble early but he soon turns it around with some good strikes. In the second round Heath dominates him just pounding on him, Brad turns it around with seconds left but not enough to take the round. The third round is a little more even and there are some good moments, Herring takes the decision.4.5/5

5.KENDALL GROVE VS ALAN BELCHER-the first round is good as both come for a victory and land some strikes and takedowns. The second round is more so controlled by Kendall with ground and pound and even a slam, but it is the darce choke that wins it for Kendall.5/5

6.MIKE SWICK VS YUSHIN OKAMI-two excellent fighters go at it in this one I remember watching this one and thinking this is going to be a classic. The first round is a little slow as they feel each other out but Okami ends up on top as the round closes. The second round looks much like the first but with Mike unloading on him as the round closes. The third round is more even with some great ground work and it goes to a decision, Okami takes the victory.4.5/5

7.ROGER HUERTA VS LEONARD GARCIA-the first round is an excellent one with some great action displayed by both fighters but Roger takes the round. Even more exciting action in the second with some great slug fests and ground game, Roger still takes the round. The third round is just as exciting and even as the round ends with Garcia on his back he is still swinging for the fences. Huerta takes a decision win.5/5

8.DIEGO SANCHEZ VS JOSH KOSCHECK-a rematch here with two guys from the Ultimate Fighter show, I can't stand Koscheck. Billed as the headline fight [top fight under the main event] these two wanted to go at it for a while since Josh talks to much. There is not really much in the first round as the feeling out process takes up the whole round until the last 20 second Josh gets the takedown. The crowd boos like crazy because the second round is one long feeling out process, not much here. The third round has a little more action but not much, Josh "The Blanket" Koscheck wins a lame fight and acts like it is the greatest victory ever.2/5

9.GEORGES ST-PIERRE VS MATT SERRA-this is one of my favorite fights of all time because I called before it happened, believe it or not but while all my friends were betting on GSP I won some good cash on this fight. I have been a fan of Serra since he debuted, I mean come on he is a black belt under Renzo Gracie. The thing that gets me is that people say Matt got lucky but if you watch the fight from start to finish Serra was winning the fight easy, and then he got the TKO. One of the greatest moments in MMA with out a doubt and it all happened here in Texas. Plus one of the greatest shots in UFC history happens win Matt is getting the belt put on him, his reaction is priceless.5/5

This is one of the greatest events ever as one of the best wins the title, plus there is some excellent behind the scenes footage with Serra, GSP, and such. Please Serra beat Hughes tonight and shut him down forever.

For those who haven't seen it, I won't spoil it here. This card features a fight that could have been fixed. Hopefully this won't be MMA's first steps toward copying the crooked boxing world.

To be honest, I give this 5 stars because Matt Serra is one of my favorite fighters, has been for a long time. He went from winning The Ultimate Fighter 4: Comeback reality show (not yet on DVD) to get a WW Title shot. Most people thought it was a waste, neither he or Lutter stood a chance, and their title shots were just stopping us from seeing the real fights that should be happening with the "top contenders". I admit even though I am a huge Serra fan, I was counting him out a little.



Then at UFC 67, a worn down Travis Lutter (from weight cutting gone bad) still almost beat Anderson Silva, knee surgery or no. (It is said that Anderson Silva had both knees operated on weeks before the fight) When this happened, I thought just maybe Serra could pull it off.



He does in stunning fashion, by favorite UFC moment by far, up there with Couture vs Sylvia.



If it wasn't for that, I'd honestly give this UFC 3 and a half stars.



Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher - Good fight

Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Mike Swick - Alright fight, nothing special

Lightweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs. Roger Huerta - A war, must see

Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Diego Sanchez - Let down fight



Check out the Luke Cummo vs Josh Haynes fight for some interesting talk on how drinking your own urine is healthy, Cummo & Rogan are some crazy guys. I'd never drink that.

Luke Cummo vs. Josh Haynes, Marcus Davis vs. Pete Spratt, Thales Leites vs. Pete Sell, Heath Herring vs. Brad Imes, Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher,
Yushin Okami vs. Mike Swick, Leonard Garcia vs. Roger Huerta, Josh Koscheck vs. Diego Sanchez, Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra. This was a pretty decent lineup. A lot of good matches. Sure some were mismatches, but there is a big upset on the card, so anything can happen in the cage. Even the one sided matches are entertaining because of the mma clinics the superior fighters put on. A couple of nice submissions and knockouts really round out the card. The Koscheck/Sanchez match is a huge letdown, but the Huerta/Garcia match more than makes up for it. The dvd itself though is not put together well. As they have done before, the UFC has cut out all pre and post fight interviews save for the main event. They have also cut out the minute break in between rounds. A lot of interesting commentary happens then as well as a good look at each fighter and their corners. I don't know why they do this on some of their dvd's and not others. It really only saves them about 15 minutes total for the event. If they are going to release the event, then release it as a whole and not edited.