With a main event that features Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight title and a solid undercard featuring fighters such as Demian Maia, Joe Stevenson and Kenny Florian, this DVD brings to you one of the best events of 2008.

The main event was great. The new breed of heavyweight fighter versus the old school legend – Lesnar vs. Couture is an MMA fans dream. Of course, it was only Lesnar’s third fight in the UFC, having lost to Frank Mir and defeated Heath Herring previously. Couture, making his return to the company after a fifteen month layoff, went into the fight as a legend in many people’s eyes having won both the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles in his UFC career.

As would be expected, Lesnar’s imposing figure and immovable frame dictates much of this fight with a helpless Couture left to fight back. With the UFC heavyweight title on the line, Couture battles back to make this one of my favourite fights of the year. A great fight which highlights Lesnar’s rise in popularity in such a short space of time.

The semi-main event, an intriguing lightweight battle between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson, is between two fighters who sat on the brink of a title shot at the time of their fight. A fast paced, ground battle, this fight highlights why the lightweight division remains one of the most stacked in the UFC.

Dustin Hazelett and Tamdan McCrory have a good scrap in the welterweight division, with the fight highlighting both fighters slick ground skill. It also features one of my favourite submissions of 2008 – so it isn’t one to be missed!

Good scraps between Gabriel Gonzaga and Josh Hendricks, and Demian Maia and Nate Quarry, round off the main card action. They may be somewhat predictable, but both fights have some great highlights. The scraps are two of your typical “blink and you’ll miss it” fights, that don’t last long, but provide us all with some memorable knockouts/submissions.

The preliminary fights are solid and feature four good fights inside the cage. The fight between Jorge Gurgel and Aaron Riley is the only one that lasts the distance and comes after a devastating knockout win for Jeremy Stephens over Rafael dos Anjos.

There’s also good submission wins for Mark Bocek and Matt Brown over Alvin Robinson and Ryan Thomas respectively.

We also get our usual features on the second disc. These include the weigh-in’s, behind the scenes footage, fighter interviews and countdown to the event segments. Interesting features and as always, good additions to the DVD.

This DVD highlights some great action inside the Octagon. A number of awesome performances make this event one of my favourite of 2008. A must-see for any fans of the UFC.

Martin Smith
martin@ifight365.com