Review of Cage Rage: 19 - Fearless

Introduction

Now well into its fourth year of promoting MMA in the United Kingdom, Cage Rage continues to get bigger and bigger. On 21st April, the company plan on a huge step, running head-to-head in the UK with the Ultimate Fighting Championships, with their event being broadcast live on Sky Sports.

But that`s in the future, and for now, it is time to take a look at the company`s latest DVD release, "Fearless". The concept of the show was "United Kingdom vs. United States", with a main event of British Heavyweight Champion Rob Broughton facing noted super-heavyweight-boxer-turned-fighter, Butterbean.

Cage Rage 19: Fearless was held on 9th December 2006, from the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is good for a DVD of this genre. The DVD transfer itself is very good for a live-to-tape event, and the only thing dragging the video down is the lacklustre production values. While it is unfair to compare Cage Rage to the megabucks of UFC, simple things need improvement, in particular the lighting of the event, which is rather dark at all times. This gives the impression of a low-budget production, which does not reflect well on what is often a very good product.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is reasonable for a DVD of this genre. Commentary is provided by the team of Stephen Quadros, Rob Nutley, and Malcolm Martin - in my opinion, one too many for the broadcast position. Quadros - well-known for his work for PRIDE - is more than capable of calling all of the action, and requires only a colour analyst as a partner. Unfortunately, neither Nutley nor Martin have the charisma of Quadros` PRIDE partner Bas Rutten.

Another issue with the audio is the lack of atmosphere. I`m certain that live, the crowd was buzzing for much of the action, but that is not captured at all by this production, and the event suffers because of this. Quite often, the crowd reactions can lift a dull match - the most glaring recent example being Matt Hughes` UFC 63 bout with Royce Gracie, which was at most an average bout, made to seem spectacular by the audience`s participation - but through poor audio mixing, this is never the case here.

Features

A number of backstage interviews make up our extras here, and these are much better than I have come to expect from Cage Rage DVDs. Here, the participants show much more charisma than at previous events, making these interviews well worth a look.

Conclusion

A mammoth eleven matches are available here, which includes the preliminary bouts, the first of which saw Suley Mahmoud face Francesco Ligato. This was a very short fight, which included an odd attempt at a rear naked choke reversal. Alan McAuley and Matt Ewin then followed up with another short bout, which had me concerned about further possible mis-matches further up the card.

Thankfully, the next bout was more competitive, as Ross Mason and Jess Liaudin contested a Welterweight bout, which concluded with a great show of technique from the eventual winner. The charismatic Alex Reid then faced Xavier Foupa Pokam in an excellent, brutal bout, which was marred only by a very unfortunate stoppage. Hopefully, these two will re-match sooner rather than later.

"Snatch" actor Dave Legeno then faced the man who beat him in his debut fight, the tough-talking Alan Murdock. This is another good contest, which is fought mostly from a standing position. If you`re of the persuasion, look out for the horrible gash sustained by Legeno.

It was the battle of the Brazilians next as Jean Silva engaged with Danilo Cherman. This was a tremendously brutal contest, both standing and on the canvas. At one point, Cherman delivered one of the most stunning suplexes I`ve ever witnessed, before getting himself caught in a spectacularly-perilous armbar. Be sure to watch to his post-match interview to witness just how perilous! Notwithstanding the violent nature of the contest, this was a great match, with typical Brazilian heart shown by both competitors. This was also the match of the night.

Hot on their heels, however, was another very good contest, between Paul Daley and Luiz Azeredo. The former`s striking, in particular, was very good, and this bout also had a nice mix of stand-up and ground fighting, and at quite the pace, too.

The Cage Rage World Lightweight Title was on the line next, with challenger Daisuke Nakamura looking to unseat Vitor Ribeira, often better known by his nickname "Shaolin". This bout wasn`t particularly spectacular, being fought much on the ground, until its devastating conclusion. Once again, it was a finish not for the weak of heart, but an incredible finishing sequence nonetheless.

The man charged with defeating England`s MMA hope Michael Bisping at UFC 70, Australian Elvis Sinosic, then appeared here against Cage Rage veteran Mark Epstein. This was a short, exciting fight, which led into the penultimate affair, where the hugely impressive Zelg Galesic challenged Mark Weir for the British Middleweight Title. This was another explosive contest that ended in sensational style, just don`t get up to make a cup of tea. If you do, please activate the your player`s PAUSE mechanism!

It was always highly unlikely that the main event of Rob Broughton vs. Butterbean would live up to the standard of some of the other bouts on the card, but for Cage Rage, this one wasn`t about match quality, but rather about star-power, something which the Super-Heavyweight boxer certainly has. Sure enough, this was possibly the worst fight on the card, but it was far from dreadful, and had more vocal support than any other contest. Because of this, it felt like a main event, and was a satisfying conclusion to the event.

Cage Rage 19: Fearless was another step up for Cage Rage, before yet another on April 21st. Here, they acquitted themselves very well indeed, with excellent matches between Xavier and Reid, Silva and Cherman, and Weir and Galesic, in particular.

If the USA is anything to go by, MMA as a whole will really burgeon as a sport in the UK in 2008. By then, the UFC will likely have a major foothold in the sports market, especially in 18-34 year olds. But viewers should not dismiss the homegrown product, particularly if it can continue to improve, as Cage Rage has consistently done since 2002. Cage Rage 19: Fearless is worth a look to both fans and newcomers, as a symbol of the exciting times that lie ahead for MMA.