A fight that involves Anderson Silva is guaranteed to generate a good number of buys regardless of who faces the Brazilian superstar. Silva, highly regarded as one of the top fighters in the world, never fails to impress. However, his fight with Patrick Cote will always be remembered for the wrong reasons. Rather than unleash his explosive kicks and punch combos, it was the champion’s lethargic performance that dominated the headlines, as well as the unfortunate injury suffered by Patrick Cote in the third round.

It was the manner of the victory that made the end of this DVD a poor one. Cote, who may have been winning with the judges as the third round started, advanced forward only to crumble to a heap on the ground. Having suffered a painful knee injury, the fight was abruptly stopped and Silva was declared the winner by TKO. The result clearly didn’t tell the whole story and left the champion almost embarrassed to reclaim his belt. The crowd in Illinois booed wildly, but it was one of those things that simply couldn’t be avoided.

Otherwise, it was a great PPV and this DVD certainly delivers on all fronts. The preliminary fights are entertaining, and particular mentions are reserved for both Thales Leites and Spencer Fisher, who pulled off two great performances. You also have to give credit to both Hermes Franca and Marcus Aurelio for putting on a great display.

With the five preliminary fights out of the way and this DVD already proving to be a good success, we are left to the main card to round off an entertaining night of MMA. The five remaining bouts, with the exception of the Gray Maynard/Rich Clementi fight, were great to watch and provided several performances that stood out a mile.

For me, the fight of the night was between Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin, who went toe-to-toe for fifteen minutes in a solid battle. Sherk, who has returned to the stacked lightweight division after controversially being stripped of his belt, looks impressive against his fellow American – with Griffin almost expecting to win the fight of the night bonus every time he enters the octagon (this was his forth in six fights).

The fight between Fabricio Werdum and Junior dos Santos was expected to be a huge Werdum win. However, when footage emerged of dos Santos sparring in one of Dana White’s video diaries in the build up to the fight, his odds fell dramatically. So, when dos Santos delivered one of the best knockouts of 2008 and added a glorious piece of footage to his highlight reel, the fans in the arena went wild. It was a devastating victory over a fight that was considered one of the top guys in the division and who was once touted as a future champion.

Our co-main event between Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck was a fast paced fight that was to decide the number one contender for the title. Koscheck, who was stepping in for the injured Diego Sanchez, was fighting his second fight in three months having defeated Chris Lytle at UFC 86. He provided a stern test for Alves, keeping the action on the feet and providing a tough challenge when Alves tried to take control.

However, it was Alves who continued to drive through the gears in the fight and it continually scored him well with the judges. A good fight that highlighted two of the world’s best welterweights and moved the Brazilian on to a fight with champion Georges St. Pierre in the future.

The extra features on the disc are the usual UFC treats. We get the weigh-in, the behind the scenes show and the countdown show. I sometimes wish they would give us something extra – maybe an DVD exclusive in the future? I would definitely welcome some sort of “day in the life of Dana White” documentary or something on one of these DVD’s. It would add a bit more to the content and would certainly justify the price tag that the DVD is sold at.

Overall, this is another solid effort by the UFC. It is an entertaining DVD that provides some great fights and some exciting MMA action. I would certainly recommend this was added to the collection if you are serious about the sport. While the main event is a huge letdown, I felt the rest of the card more than made up for it and gave us some great action.

For more on the DVD and to pick up a copy, visit FightDVD.

Martin Smith
martin@ifight365.com