Review for UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez

Lightweight champion BJ Penn returned to form at UFC 101 when he submitted top contender and Ultimate Fighter season one finalist Kenny Florian. His return, just four months later, at this pay-per-view, saw him matched up against the man who conquered the aforementioned Florian, TUF season one winner Diego Sanchez.

Sanchez is usually a guarantee of a good fight, and his high pressure game may be the key to ending the reign of 'The Prodigy', who has faced criticism for his poor conditioning for years.

Florian will be looking to bounce back himself, as he matches us here against one half of 2009's fight of the year, and the man Sanchez vanquished to earn a title shot, Clay 'The Carpenter' Guida.

Another exciting match-up involves another man looking to get back to winning ways, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir. His opponent will be an upset and angry Cheick Kongo, a talented French kickboxer who feels disrespected by the outspoken Mir.

Also on the card welterweight contender Jon Fitch meets Mike Pierce and 'The Headhunter' Paul Buentello makes his return to the UFC to face Stefan Struve.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 PAL and is another well produced UFC event. The video transfers perfectly to DVD. 

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 provides the audio, and, as usual, it is perfectly clear. It feels almost as if we are sitting next to commentators Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan, Octagon side.

Extras

The one criticism that could be regularly used against UFC DVD's is the lack of decent extras. Most UFC DVD's provide weigh-in show, behind the scenes and the countdown show, but here the latter is cut. That just leaves us with a good weigh-in show, look out of an interesting stare down between Kongo and Mir, and the behind the scenes segment, which is the most interesting viewing.

Conclusion

This is a solid DVD, with good fights both on the main card and on the prelims. 

The main event between Penn and Sanchez provides us with a master-class performance from one the the two competitors. It is such a one sided affair that, at times, it is difficult to watch, but it should not get away from the fact that it is a fantastic performance from the eventual victor.

Another commanding performance is on show in a 'blink and you'll miss it' co-main event. Months of talk between Kongo and Mir resulted in an explosive finish which would have been hard to predict beforehand.

Guida and Florian also serve up another entertaining contest, which is no surprise considering the competitors involved. Guida is a relentless competitor who matches up really well with the technically sound Florian.

Fitch's fight is a, how do you put it? It's a typical Jon Fitch fight. There is only so long that you can sit and admire the wrestling of Fitch before it becomes somewhat repetitive. 

Buentello and Struve serve up an entertaining contest also.

The preliminary card for this event runs the main card close for entertainment, excellent fights between DaMarques Johnson and Edgar Garcia, Kevin Burns and TJ Grant and the two Brazilians Rousimar Palhares and Lucio Linares make the price of the DVD worthwhile but the best of the lot is a fight between Alan 'The Talent' Belcher and Wilson Gouveia. How this fight didn't make main card status is beyond me.

All in all this is a solid UFC event, with some excellent fights all through the card. It is well worth the money but, as usual with UFC DVD's the buyer could do with a little extra on the second disc.