Customer Reviews

Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 44: Undisputed

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Date: September 26, 2003
Location: Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada

This is another exciting and entertaining UFC event. One of the best fight cards in recent years, in fact. We get to see some good matchups and some rising stars in the UFC. Rich Franklin, called "the next big thing" in the middleweight division, fights Edwin Dewees. Dewees, no doubt, came to fight on this night, but Franklin is simply overwhelming.

David "The Crow" Louiseau then faces Jorge Rivera. Louiseau came from Canada with much hype behind him and he had been making a name for himself here - but this fight goes the distance, as the fighters seem to be quite evenly skilled. It's right down to the wire at the decision.

Next was the battle of the giants. Tim Sylvia, at 6'8 took on Gan McGee, at 6'10. These were the two largest men ever to fight for the UFC heavyweight championship. People were expecting a clash of the titans, but the fight does not quite deliver in terms of longevity. It all ends pretty quickly.

On the subject of heavyweights, you've got to mention the rising star, Andrei Arlovski. Here he fights veteran Vladimir Matyushenko. Arlovski clearly has dominating striking ability, speed and power. He makes a serious case for a title shot. He has very impressive skills and he appears to be very well-rounded. This is a heavyweight that moves like a lightweight... something we don't get to see all that often.

In the main event of the evening, after a night already packed with great fights, reigning champion Tito Ortiz takes on interim champion, Randy Couture. When Ortiz stepped away, Couture battled and defeated Chuck Liddell, the contender Ortiz had refused to fight, for whatever reason. On this night, Couture shows that his championship is indeed for real. He continually takes Ortiz down almost completely at will and batters him straight through the fight. He gives Tito a strong taste of his own medicine, treating him exactly as Tito has treated so many of his past opponents- taking them down and using the ground & pound effectively. Randy Couture is a truly inspirational athlete and MMA figure. The fans unanimously predict Ortiz will win this fight - yet by the end of the bout, the crowd cheers "Randy, Randy...". The fight is perfectly capped in the last round. Randy has Tito pinned upside-down in the corner, Tito is trying to escape or apply an ankle hook and Randy spanks him on the @ss as if to say "I'm not giving this up yet... I'm not passing any torch to you tonight"... Beautiful!

There are some great behind-the-scenes bonus features included on the DVD. Highly recommended!

Yet another solid event. UFC never fails to deliver when it comes to excellent match-ups. I am a big fan of Pride, but to me the UFC is the purest and most exciting MMA event on the planet. I have watched this event numerous times now (much like all of my other MMA DVDs), and I have to say that it really is a must have for your collection.

This is was a very memorable UFC, there were about 3 good matchups that will keep your eyes glued to the screen. The championship battle between Tito and Couture was well-worth it, they both back up the hype and brought it.

Franklin, Loiseau, Arlovski, Sylvia, Tito, and Couture are the big names on this card... overall it was a good, solid DVD!

UFC 44
UNDISPUTED

It was finally time that all the talk would be laid to rest as Tito Ortiz would put it on the line against interim champion Randy Couture. And after the last great event this one was shaping up to be another good one.

1.CAOL UNO VS HERMES FRANCA-Uno basically controls the first round with some nice ground and pound, and some good leg kicks. Franca really came to fight though because he does to Uno what was done to him in the first, dominates. After a sick looking throw to Uno Franca ends up knocking Uno out with a great punch, great opening bout.5/5

2.JEREMY JACKSON VS NICK DIAZ-this was the rubber match between the two as each had a ko victory over the other. And round one starts out with a few exchanges then Jackson gets taken down by Diaz a couple times, and the round ends just like that. Round two ends up looking just like the first only with Jackson taking the round, so it ends 1-1 each with a round. Round three was shaping up to be the best round of all, until Diaz sinks in an arm bar. Diaz takes the rubber match, another good fight.4/5

3.JOSH THOMSON VS GERALD STREBENDT-very exciting first round by these two warriors, submission after submission and punch after punch. After some phenomenal action in the first round, Josh Thomson takes the victory after he stops Gerald after he rocks him.5/5

4.DAVE STRASSER VS KARO PARISYAN-this fight ends in the first round as well with Karo tapping out Dave with a nice kimora. He also displayed some excellent judo during this bout with some nice throws on Dave, good fight over all.4.5/5

5.RICH FRANKLIN VS EDWIN DEWEES-I was surprised by how quick Dewees was able to take Rich down, and even control him well. But once it is back standing up Franklin basically destroys Edwin, the knees in particular are deadly. In fact it is the knees Rich delivers to Edwin on the ground are what end this fight.5/5

6.DAVID LOISEAU VS JORGE RIVERA-the first round is well paced and filled with a lot of punches and elbows. Rivera even gets a nasty cut on the side of his head. The second round looked pretty much like the first, punches, elbows, clinches, and tie ups. The third round was exactly the same minus a good flurry at the end, with Jorge Rivera coming out on top with a decision.3.5/5

7.TIM SYLVIA VS GAN MCGEE-this was the battle of the giants as the two largest people to ever compete for a UFC title collided, The fight did not last long at all, lasting only about a little under two minutes. Tim Sylvia just knocks him out with some powerful punches, good knock out and Tim keeps the heavyweight title around his waist.4.8/5

8.ANDREI ARLOVSKI VS VLADIMIR MATYUSHENKO-this fight had an excellent first round, very fast paced. Arndrei obviously was controlling it minus a few parts including an illegal knee to the head. But with that a side Andrei still knocks Vladimir out in stunning fashion, great but short fight.5/5

9.TITO ORTIZ VS RANDY COUTURE-this fight was to decide who was the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world. This fight came about because Tito did not fight Chuck Liddell at the previous event. I think it is funny because every one of the celebrities thought that this fight was easily going to Tito Ortiz. And all I can say about this fight is the same as the Chuck fight, WOW. Randy Couture really put it on Tito in this fight at every turn. He basically beat down Tito in this bout, this was an extremely impressive fight for Randy. CLASSIC fight right here that will go down in history.5/5

This was a phenomenal event that was just as good as the last.

Great matches all around the best was the Undisputed Lightheavywight Championship of the World between Tito Ortiz and Randy Courtire. Great match all on ground grappling and no tap out early. They went the distance of 5 rounds. Their was no stoppage like their usually is. Referre John McCarthy was not an issue in this match. Randy Courtire was dominating all the way through the match and Tito Ortiz did not get off the blocks during the matchup at all. Courtire has a great wrestling background used it very well because of his great stamina the man is 40 years of age and in great shape. Ortiz got the living crap beat out of him and could do nothing about it. After the match was over Ortiz was pissed and knew he had lost the match up in a Unanomuis decision because all the judges scored the match to Courtire 50-49. Ortiz cryed like a baby when he lost and he diserved to cry because he sucked throught the match.

Great event that includes the battle between Randy "the natural" Couture and Tito Ortiz, and Tim Sylvia defending his heavyweight belt against Gan Mcgee.
Other fights include:
Hermes Franca vs. Caol Uno
Nick Diaz vs. Jeremy Jackson
Josh Thomson vs. Gerald Strebendt
Karo Parisyan vs. Dave Strasser
Rich Franklin vs. Edwin Dewees
Jorge Rivera vs. David Loiseau
Andrei Arlovski vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Highly recommended.

I'm used to the DVD controls or User Interfase of Pride DVD's. In this DVD you have to see the 4min. preview every time you start the DVD and the skipping between fights is terrible. You can only skip between whole fights, not between sections of the fight(presentation, rounds, judges' desicion, etc.). This makes it hard for people to do searching in the DVD.
I hope the rest of the UFC DVD's improve on this.

This was something personal. Chuck Liddell got his butt handed to him, courtesy of Randy. Tito basically stepped down as champion. And after Randy beat Liddell, he had something to say about this match against Tito. "To be considered the champion, you have to fight the number 1 contender, and he wasn't willing to do that. He knows in his heart why he wouldn't fight Chuck, and uh, and he's gotta live with that. Tito, who is never at a loss for words, offers a simple response. "I am no coward. I'm not afraid of no man." To boot, after his victory, Randy sent a message out to Tito, with belt in hand, "TITO! I don't know if you're in the house, baby. But if you want this belt, you're gonna have to come in here and take it!!" That's a message being delivered! Also is The Battle of the Giants, which features Tim Sylvia defending his title against Gan McGee. They were never featured in the intro with comments. THIS is UFC 44. So who will remain UNDISPUTED? This was great! The fights were awesome. You usually can't say that with every fight in a UFC event. So, with that said, I'll list the fights below.



Caol Uno vs. Hermes Franca: This appears as if Uno will control the fight. BTW, yes it really is Caol, not Carl! Ok? But anyway, this fight ends in round 2. Hey, Hermes Franca always comes to bring it on against his opponent. Impressive victory!

Jeremy Jackson vs. Nick Diaz: The news in this was that these 2 had met twice before. Diaz knocked out Jackson, then Jackson knocked out Diaz. Both were in the first round. Part 3 occurs in the octagon! This almost goes 3 rounds. Somewhat of a chess match, and ends with a submission before the 3rd round ends.

Josh Thomson vs. Gerald Strebendt: Jiu Jitsu against "The Punk." This is a quick knock out in the 1st. Nice and quick!

Dave Strasser vs. Karo Parisyan: This is where Karo makes his UFC debut. Judo expert, and bringing the heat, you probably know who takes this in the first round! Sometimes a pain, but always an entertaining fight with Karo Parisyan! Knows how to make a fight out of it.

Rich Franklin vs. Edwin Dewees: Dewees came to fight, but you REALLY have to come to fight when taking on Rich. How will this one end? Pretty quickly! Yep, 1st round.

David Louiseau vs. Jorge Rivera: This is a flat out good fight! This does go the distance, and it makes you wonder what would've happened with 10 additional seconds...literally! It is a unanimous decision.

Tim Sylvia vs Gan McGee: Ok, Tim Sylvia, Champion is 6'8", 262 pounds, and Gan McGee is 6'10" weighing 265 pounds. That's over 500 pounds colliding! No wonder they call this, "The Battle of The Giants!" This ends with a quick knock out. Foot note: Unfortunately, this was where Sylvia was sited for controlled substances, and he had to relinquish this particular title. But, in saying that, it was a lesson learned, and he earned the title once again when he fought in UFC 59. Sylvia never needed that crap, he's won the belts without it!

Andrei Arlovski vs. Vladimir Matyushenko: Consider this the battle of Belarus! But is this really a battle when it happens to be Arlovski vs. "that other Russian fighter from Belarus"? Probably not, but you didn't hear that from me. It ends pretty quickly.

Tito Ortiz vs. Randy Couture: Well, here it is. Quite frankly, Tito showed, but Tito couldn't handle it. To Tito's credit, it did go the distance, ALL 5 ROUNDS! But he got spanked, plain and simple. Don't believe me? Watch the fight.



For that matter, watch the whole DVD. This is one great night of fights! Enjoy it, and you'll agree that this is an awesome evening in the octagon, and THAT'S UNDISPUTED!!

Here are the matches:

CARL UNO VS. HERMES FRANCA-great match, I cannot give anything away about this but it has a spectacular ending.

JEREMY JACKSON VS. NICK DIAZ-now Jeremy Jackson can SERIOUSLY throw. Can Nick Diaz get him on the ground?

GERALD STREBENDT VS. JOSH THOMPSON-absolutely insane match. One guy cetrtainly got what he deserved trying like 5 submission attempts in the first minute or so.

KARO PARISYAN VS. DAVID STRASSER-this was a decent match. You can tell that KAro is going to be a really good fighter.

DAVID LOISEAU VS. JORGE RIVERA-another epic battle with Rivera.

RICH FRANKLIN VS. EDWIN DEWEESS-pretty funny match. I am sure by looking at the names you can guess who wins this one.

VLADIMIR MATYUSHENKO? VS. ANDREI ARLOVSKI-how the hell was Vladimir favored to win this?

TIM SYLVIA VS. DAN MGHEE-this is the one where Sylvia tested positive for steroids. He certainly looks ripped.

RANDY COUTURE VS TITO-I don't want to give anything away but this match left me with a huge smile on my face.

Same behind the scenes stuff as the other DVD's. This one goes a bit more in depth on the weigh-ins.

This was a very solid DVD with two championship fights. The first was for the Heavyweight Championship in which Sylvia successfully defends his title against McGee in a very dissapointing short fight. The other was to determine the undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion, in which Couture dominated the entire fight. There was no doubt after this one.

Complete card:
Caol Uno vs. Hermes Franca
Nick Diaz vs. Jeremy Jackson
Josh Thomson vs. Gerald Strebendt
Dave Strasser vs. Karo Parisyan
Rich Franklin vs. Edwin Dewees
David Loiseau vs. Jorge Rivera
Andrei Arlovski vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
For the UFC Heavyweight Championship: Tim Sylvia (champion) vs. Gan McGee
For the undisputed UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Tito Ortiz (champion) vs. Randy Couture (champion)