Review of UFC 63: Hughes vs Penn

Introduction

The main event of UFC 63 - held on 23rd September 2006 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California - had a rather intriguing sub-plot, although if it weren`t for a late injury, this particular story would never have been told.

Originally, Canadian Georges St. Pierre was scheduled for a shot at the UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes at UFC 63. But four weeks prior to the event, St. Pierre sustained a serious groin injury which ruled him out of any training, and out of his championship match. Upon hearing the news, B.J Penn - whom St. Pierre had defeated months earlier for the #1 contender position - placed a call to the UFC offices, and his chance at Hughes was on.

The story of Hughes and Penn goes back to UFC 46 in January 2004. There, Penn - considered one of the most naturally-talented fighters in the entire sport - defeated Hughes by first round submission to take the same Welterweight title, though he never defended it due to a bitter contract dispute.

For Penn, then, this was an opportunity to reclaim the belt that slipped from his grasp in a court-room, not an Octagon. For Hughes, this was retribution, the chance to bury the spectre of one of only two previous UFC losses.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 full screen PAL, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. Unlike PRIDE, or even WWE, UFC do not use over-the-top pyrotechnics in their shows, instead opting for the subtle approach, but the Arrowhead Pond is well lit, and certainly has a big event feel. The DVD transfer is clear, does not suffer from compression artefacts, and overall is very impressive for a live-to-tape recording.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good. All of the important audio, including the sounds of the in-ring action and the commentary, is very well captured, and always clearly audible. Speaking of commentary, this is provided effectively by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan. The latter is an interesting combination of a trained fighter (though he has never competed in UFC) and a stand-up comedian. As such, he is an entertaining yet informative personality.

For international viewers, there are also 2.0 tracks available in French, Dutch, and German.

Features

As has become custom for UFC event DVDs, the documentary extra centres around the two biggest fights of the night, in this case David Loiseau vs. Mike Swick, and Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn. And as per usual, this is a great feature, delving into the preparation of the fighters, as well as learning about them as people - for example, Matt Hughes explains how being a new father has changed him. There is lots of interview footage to back up the piece, including a look post-match, which is something we don`t get to see outside of these DVD releases.

Conclusion

UFC 63 kicked off with Tyson Griffin facing England`s own David Lee, in a double UFC debut. It was a short but attack-minded bout, which led to a battle of the Ultimate Fighter contestants, as Jorge Gurgel faced Danny Abbadi. This was an extremely busy fight, with virtually no halts in the action, both on the ground, and standing. With some brutal punches thrown by both competitors, this was a tremendous bout considering it was early on the card.

Next up was a battle of former Vale Tudo (literally "Anything goes" in Portuguese, and if you thought UFC was grotesque, you definitely want to stay away from Vale Tudo) fighter Mario Neto, and Californian fighter Eddie Sanchez. This fight began a little tepidly, which was made up for by a tremendous finish.

In a lightweight bout - and interestingly, there were a remarkable five lightweight bouts on the card - Roger Huerta then took on Jason Dent in another great contest, with some excellent, fast striking on show, including very liberal use of knees. There was some groundwork too, which was always busy and at no stage boring.

In what was the first bout of the main pay-per-view card, Jens "Little Evil" Pulver made his return to the Octagon, after four years of fighting for various organisations, including PRIDE. His opponent was Joe Lauzon, and this was a short and incredibly spectacular fight. It also involved a major, major surprise.

Coming in to UFC 63, opinion was divided over one of the next participants, Ultimate Fighter winner (205lbs category) Rashad Evans. Evans was a tremendous college wrestler, and had displayed some good striking at times, but all of his previous five fights (including two not under the UFC umbrella) had gone to the judges` scorecards. As such, he was keen to prove he could finish an opponent, in this instance fellow wrestler Jason Lambert. After the excitement of the previous encounter, and the superb Huerta vs. Dent match, this was a slight step down, but at least it did contain that significant finish - I won`t say for whom - that Evans had been looking for.

The final match before the two "main event" encounters was Melvin Guillard vs. Gabe Ruediger. This was another worthwhile contest, with some particularly brutal elbows on show. That type of high-level striking also played a part in the finish, which will undoubtedly make its way onto the next Ultimate Knockouts compilation.

The Middleweight bout between Mike Swick and David Loiseau was an interesting one, even if, in the end, it was to be bettered by at least three other bouts at UFC 63. A good mix of striking and wrestling, both men seemed just a little tentative throughout. This was far from a bad match, it just did not live up to the hype.

But if there was any disappointment in the semi-main event, however, it was entirely eroded by the Welterweight title encounter, as Matt Hughes faced BJ Penn. A rather long affair, which in this instance was a good thing, the bout told a fascinating story, and was fought in front of an incredibly hot crowd. At one point in the match, there was an incredible "false finish" (ie. Where it seemed certain that one competitor would triumph, only for a dramatic escape), which had yours truly on the absolute edge of his seat in excitement. With a great variety of striking as well as wrestling and submission work, this was a genuine contender for 2006 MMA match of the year.

Overall, UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn was a fantastic card, which let no-one down. There were no boring matches in sight, and three real gems in Gurgel vs. Abbadi, Huerta vs. Dent, and Hughes vs. Penn. The latter is an absolute must-see match for anyone with an interest in the sport.

Furthermore to the action, this DVD is a great example of how to capture an event which went well over three hours live. By tightly editing the ring introductions to every match but the final two, all of the preliminary matches were able to be included here, which made a world of difference to the overall quality of the card. The visuals and audio are both of a very high standard too, and the extra feature documentary is well worth watching.

With UFC, PRIDE, and Cage Rage DVDs currently flooding the UK market, it is often difficult to know which titles to pick up. But UFC 63 is genuinely one of the great DVDs currently available, and is highly recommended.