Review for UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

Never has a card been so wrecked by injury than UFC 106. When this event was first announced it was expected to be headlined by a heavyweight title bout between Shane Carwin and the champion Brock Lesnar.

However when Lesnar had to withdraw with a career threatening illness the UFC was left with with a dilemma, the co-main event, a bout between returnee Tito Ortiz and the legend Mark Coleman was good, but hardly headline material.

So when another injury ruled Mark Coleman out of his bout with Ortiz, the powers that be convinced the honeymooning Forrest Griffin into a rematch of the 2006 classic between the two.

It turned out to be a blessing rather than a curse as the two men served up another excellent fight, and it wasn't the only one on the card.

There was also the clash between the man everybody loves to hate Josh Koscheck and the insanely powerful Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson.

Amir Sadollah also returned to take on Phil Baroni and dedicated fight fans will have been rubbing their hands at the prospect of seeing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, AKA 'Lil Nog making his Octagon debut against Luiz Cane.
 
Forget what the forums say, if you're a fight fan then you can't not enjoy UFC 106.

Video 

Video is presented in 4:2 PAL, and once again no complaints can be made against the UFC. Exceptionally clear, this DVD looks especially good on a HD ready format.

Audio

Audio is presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital, you won't miss a punch, kick or bone crunching submission in this one.

Extras

Any collector of UFC DVDs will know the usual selection of extras that come on disc two by now, for those of you that don't know, we get the weigh-in show, countdown to UFC 106 and the most worthwhile of the three, behind the scenes.

The weigh-in show is pretty self explanatory, and is a decent viewing, although it seems more relevant when there is a grudge match in store which usually serves to make the stare-downs that extra bit intense.

The countdown show, included here, is another decent watch, but may not appeal after having watched the event, because it does more to build a live PPV than it does for somebody who has purchased the event of DVD and therefore will already know the results. 

The most interesting of the three is by far the behind the scenes extra, which follows some of the fighters as they prepare for their bouts.

Conclusion

What we have here is a solid, if not spectacular, UFC event. The main event, between Griffin and Ortiz, proves to be much like the first bout between these two. It is an entertaining back and forth encounter involving two big personalities who fans either love or hate. It may not be your usual 'main event' but it certainly is an entertaining fight and should not be dismissed here.

Elsewhere on the card there is no shortage of entertainment, and if you're a fan of controversy look no further than the co-main event between Koscheck and Johnson. Both men are capable of knock-outs and both men are accomplished wrestlers, and it results in another back and forth encounter not for the faint hearted, with a little bit of controversy that only Koscheck is capable of sprinkled in to good effect.

After that 'star names' are in short supply. Casual fight fans may look to avoid this event because of the lack of names on the card, but if you are a casual fan, you should buy this DVD precisely because of the lack of star names.

Nogueira and Paulo Thiago are both entertaining and hard hitting Brazilians who may not be recognisable names to the general fight fan, but ask and hardcore fan and they will tell you that it is a privilege to be able to watch these guys fight.

All in all this DVD is, as mentioned earlier, solid but not spectacular, and is certainly worth a buy if you have £17.99 knocking around in you're wallet (or purse).