UFC 77: Hostile Territory

Introduction:
UFC 77, dubbed "Hostile Territory", was named so because the Middleweight Title was on the line in the hometown of challenger Rich Franklin, as he attempted to lure the title from the man who took it from him, Anderson Silva.

Their previous bout - arguably between the two top fighters in that division - ended in a conclusive win for Silva, and with a badly broken nose for Franklin, courtesy of Silva's Muay Thai knees. It was a painful loss, in more ways than one.

Elsewhere on the card, Brandon Vera and Tim Sylvia squared up in a Heavyweight bout, and the always-exciting Jorge Gurgel faced Alvin Robinson in a Lightweight contest.

UFC 77 was held on 20th October 2007, from the U.S Bank arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Video:
Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Production values are high, but not distracting from the fights themselves, and the camerawork is excellent, meaning that none of the in-Octagon action is missed.

In terms of the transfer to DVD, this is spotless, with no distracting digital artefacts.





Audio:
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good for a DVD of this genre. Everything is clear in the mix, so that in-Octagon action, crowd noise, and commentary are all well represented, and easily audible alongside each other. Speaking of commentary, it is provided very ably by regular hosts Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.

There is a further 2.0 track available in French.





Extras:
The usual UFC Behind The Scenes featurette is also available here, this time focusing on Silva vs Franklin and Schafer vs Bonnar. We get lots of interview footage with the fighters, a look at their training, the weigh-ins, and the post-match reaction.

It's typical, but it's also typically excellent.





Overall:
"It's going to be a completely different fight this time. It's going to be exciting." - Rich Franklin

Without giving away the result, I will say one thing - Silva vs Franklin II was definitely exciting. The combination of a hot hometown crowd and two attack-minded fighters was a great one at UFC 77, and this contest was just as hard-hitting as their first. It's a fitting end to what is otherwise a very good show.

Remarkably, as good as the main event was, the best fight of the card was probably the opening preliminary match, which was not shown on the original pay-per-view broadcast. Jason Black vs Matt Grice was an exciting, gruelling affair which was amazing even after the bell, for reasons which once again I won't spoil now.

The only disappointing bout on the show was Jason MacDonald vs Yushin Okami, though for anyone who has followed the latter's career, it shouldn't be much of a surprise. Okami is strong and dominating, but tends to grind out results. This bout epitomised his style.





Overall then, UFC 77: Hostile Territory was a very good pay-per-view, well presented here on DVD. The main event is a must-see for UFC fans, as is the opening Black vs Grice bout, despite the fact that neither fighter is particularly well-known.

Recommended.