Review of UFC 62: Liddell vs Sobral

Introduction

UFC 62 was simply subtitled "Liddell vs Sobral", but it could easily have been named "The Rematch", given that the event`s two marquee bouts were re-matches from previous events.

Chuck Liddell`s Light-Heavyweight title defence against Renato "Babalu" Sobral was a rematch from their November 2002 bout, which Liddell won via knockout in the first round. Since that time, however, Sobral had put together an excellent winning streak, defeating stars such as Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Jeremy Horn, wins which made the UFC confident of his ability to challenge for the title.

Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar`s rematch came about more because of the quality of their previous bout, rather than because of any feud or championship challenge. Their first bout was at the Ultimate Fighter finale in April 2005 - which Griffin took on points - and was one of the very best matches of the entire year.

UFC 62 was held on 26th August 2005 at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is of reasonable quality. Such mediocrity is surprising considering that recent UFC DVDs have featured excellent image quality, and this is unquestionably a step down from that. The image presented here is very, very soft, and whilst DVDs of NTSC origin can be expected to suffer slightly from this issue, it should not be the case to this extent.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is very good. Everything is clear, from ring entrance music, to in-Octagon action, to commentary, which is superbly provided by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.

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

Features

As has come to be expected, a "Behind The Scenes" featurette makes up our extras here. Focusing on the Griffin vs Bonnar and Liddell vs Sobral bouts, this is a very good look at how the fighters prepare for their bouts, including how they make weight, what they do on the day of the fight etc.

Also included are interviews with the combatants and their trainers, which give an excellent insight into how each camp thinks the fight will go. At the end of the featurette, the cameras are also backstage to capture the emotions of both winning, and losing.

Conclusion

The first bout on the DVD (none of the first four bouts here were shown on the live broadcast) saw Alan Belcher take on Yushin Okami. This bout has a nice mix of both stand-up and ground fighting, although it was a little more tentative than you would expect from a UFC opener. Be sure to check out the amazing chokehold counter by Belcher.

Next up was David Heath vs Cory Walmsley, which was a fight fought almost all on the ground, and in which the winner displayed great technique to put his opponent away. That could also be said for Wilson Gouveia`s bout with Wes Combs, which again was a little tentative, however.

Rob MacDonald and Eric Schafer then battled in a hard-fought match with an excellent finish, before Hermes Franca faced Jamie Varner in a fight that was very attack-minded, even on the ground. This bout also featured a great finish.

The only heavyweight bout of the evening saw Frenchman Cheick Kongo face Christian Wellisch, in a good stand-up fight with a brutal finish. Josh Neer vs Nick Diaz also contained some good striking, although I was a little disappointed that neither man aggressively pursued the win, although in respect to Diaz, he took the fight on only four days notice.

In the semi-main event, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar were unfortunately not able to equal their superb bout from 2005, but that is not to say that they contested a poor fight. On the contrary, it was quite good, and the brutality of the bout was evident in the faces of the fighters after the final bell.

The main event match was, perhaps surprisingly, much more of a stand-up affair than had been expected, especially from Sobral. It was also rather quick, which meant that whilst the fight was explosive, it didn`t seem much like a main event.

Overall, UFC 62 was a mixed bag. Match of the night honours would, in my opinion, to go Franca vs Varner, but aside from that, the fights were generally of average fare, with little that fight fans will not have forgotten by the next pay-per-view. To be fair, however, at no time did I have to use my fast-forward button, either.

Don`t put this one at the top of your Christmas list, but don`t ignore it, either.