Review of "UFC 74: Respect"

Introduction
The main question going into "UFC 74: Respect" was whether or not the old man of MMA could do it again.

That's not to be disparaging, but when 44-year-old Randy Couture - really a light-heavyweight fighter, though a Heavyweight champion in UFC's earlier days - defeated monstrous UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia for the title at UFC 68, you really had to wonder whether the win was just some sort of fluke.

Here, the question would be asked of Couture, as he faced Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga. In his previous fight - which ruined the UFC's plans for a multi-million dollar title contest - Gonzaga KO'd PRIDE superstar Mirko CroCop with a devastating high kick. CroCop was the Pride Open Weight Champion in 2006, and the result was a major shocker.

Also on the UFC 74 card, Georges St. Pierre looked to rebuild his career after a devastating Welterweight title loss to Matt Serra, as he faced NCAA champion wrestler Josh Koscheck. Roger Huerta also looked to keep in Lightweight division ascendancy, facing ju-jitsu expert Alberto Crane.

UFC 74 was held on 25th August 2007, from the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Video
Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. In terms of production values, the arena and Octagon cage are very well lit, but unlike occasion in WWE, for example, the production values never overshadow the show.

The transfer to DVD is unproblematic, with no noticeable digital artefacts.





Audio
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also excellent for a DVD of this genre. Everything is mixed well, so that all of the action can be heard inside the Octagon, even over the commentary of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.

There are further 2.0 tracks available in German, French, and Dutch.





Extras
The usual UFC "Behind the Scenes" featurette is available here, which in this instance looks at St. Pierre vs Koscheck, and Couture vs Gonzaga. It's typically excellent, with a look at the fighters' preparation (including the weigh-ins), as well as the post-match reaction. Of course, there is much interview footage too.





Overall
The preliminary bouts at UFC 74 began with a Lightweight contest - generally the most exciting division in the company - as Marcus Aurelio faced Clay Guida. It was a more cautious fight than most involving the latter, but was still a reasonable way to open the show.

Shorter, but more enjoyable, was Thales Leites' bout with Ryan Jensen, which was a real attack-minded encounter, with had a superb finish. Then, in what was essentially a ju-jitsu vs kickboxing bout, Frank Mir and Andoni Hardonk then had a short match, before Renato "Babalu" Sobral went up against David Heath, in the final match of Sobral's UFC career. After watching this bout, you will surely agree that it was correct that his contract was immediately terminated.

On to the card proper, then, where Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove faced Patrick Cote, in what was an interesting contest, with a surprising ending. Joe "Daddy" Stevenson's bout with Kurt Pellegrino was quite a good technical one, as was the very good Roger Huerta vs Alberto Crane contest.

Though it was a long fight, and not always the most competitive, Josh Koscheck vs Georges St. Pierre was a fulfilling bout, with incredible crowd heat. The same can be said for the Couture vs Gonzaga main event, which, to no-one's surprise, saw Couture cast as the hero. A nasty injury changed the course of this fight, but didn't take away from it's epic status.





Overall, UFC 74 didn't feature too many bouts that you would rank as among the top of the year, but when it comes to memorable matches, there were few more memorable than St. Pierre vs Koscheck, and Couture vs Gonzaga. From a match quality standpoint, the most enjoyable bouts were Huerta vs Crane - though some may find it over-technical for their liking - and Leites vs Jensen, but this card was about much more than that.

Recommended.