UFC: Best of 2007

Introduction:
For the Ultimate Fighting Championship, 2007 was the year that it all went wrong - but turned out fine in the end.

It was supposed to be the year that the PRIDE promotion - snapped up for a not inconsiderable fee by the UFC's parent company, Zuffa - was led back to prominence by the company, to prepare for a series of "Superbowl" matches between the two companies. But, with problems associated with PRIDE's alleged links to the Japanese underworld, all that UFC really got from the sale was the video library. Lawsuits are currently being settled, on both sides, over the deal.

Based on that original premise, it was supposed to be the year that the top stars in PRIDE, Mirko Cro Cop in particular, made their names inside the Octagon, rather than the cage. But after a defeat of Eddie Sanchez in February, CroCop was trounced by Gabriel Gonzaga in April, and lost a controversial decision to Cheick Kongo in September. Since then, Cro Cop's contract, and his proposed multi-million dollar fight with Heavyweight champion Randy Couture, has been cancelled.

But out of the mire, if you can call their continued success as such, 2007 was a very successful year for the company. And almost all of these successes, from an in-Octagon standpoint, are available here on this two-disc set, "UFC: Best Of 2007". With Frankie Edgar vs Tyson Griffin, Sam Stout vs Spencer Fisher, and Roger Huerta vs Clay Guida on the set, this isn't just about the big names in the company, but rather, the finest matches.

Video:
Video is presented in 16:9 anamorphic PAL, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. This is the first UK UFC release to be available in widescreen, which suggests that the transfer is perhaps taken from the high-definition master - UFC events are available in high-definition in the USA.

The transfer to DVD is thus superb, and you have to look very hard to find any digital deficiencies here.




Audio:
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Everything from in-Octagon action, to crowd noise, to commentary, can easily be heard alongside the other, in what is a very clean mix.

There is a second 2.0 track available, in French.





Extras:
A 34-minute featurette on UFC's "year of the upset" opens up the extras here, and is an excellent look into the surprising events that occurred inside the Octagon in 2007. There's action and talk regarding, to name but a few, Mirko CroCop's devastating loss to Gabriel Gonzaga, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's defeat of Chuck Liddell, and perhaps the biggest upset of them all, the seemingly all-conquering George "Rush" St. Pierre's loss to Matt Serra. It's a nice reminder of many of the big moments of the year.

The other extra available here is an intriguing one - the ability to select any of four angles from which to watch the Paul Taylor vs Marcus Davis fight from London. It's fun to play director on what is a very good fight - I particularly enjoyed viewing the bout from the camera situated above the cage.




Overall:
2007 truly was a banner year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, especially when it came to expanding its horizons internationally. The UK was the greatest beneficiary of that, with a huge marketing campaign taking place, and no less than three pay-per-view style events occurring throughout the calendar year.

Although the company considered themselves very unfortunate in some of the losses incurred by major stars - when major stars when their matches, you can pit major stars vs major stars, which equates to big profits - they were certainly not unfortunate in the quality of bouts that took place throughout the year. "Best of 2007" pretty much covers them all.

Personally, my pick for UFC Fight of the Year was Clay Guida vs Roger Huerta, but there were many other tremendous fights throughout the year, including Frankie Edgar vs Tyson Griffin, Quinton Jackson vs Chuck Liddell, Tyson Griffin vs Clay Guida, Forrest Griffin vs Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, and Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva. All of these, of course, are included here.

If there is one glaring omission from the available bouts, it is the UFC Heavyweight Title match from March. Though it was hardly in contention for Fight of the Year, it was certainly the most memorable, as the 43-year old Randy Couture came out of retirement to wrest the UFC Heavyweight Title from a man who was much younger and larger than he, Tim Sylvia. It was an incredible moment, sadly not available here, likely due to Couture's only recently-solved legal wranglings with the company.

That aside, "Best of 2007" is unquestionably the single most necessary DVD of 2007, for any fan's collection. With good matches all the way, and some stunners too, it also lends itself as a tremendous starting block for anyone who wants to know what the hype is really all about.