Review of Cage Rage 11: Face Off

Introduction

If you are into your mixed martial arts, there has never been a better time to be a fan. With the Ultimate Fighting Championships in America, PRIDE and K-1 in Japan, and Cage Rage in the UK, there is plenty of MMA to lure fight fans away from the latest Harrison vs Williams-style boxing debacle.

Cage Rage 11 - subtitled "Face Off" - was held on 30th April 2005 at the Wembley Conference Centre, and was headlined by Anderson "The Spider" Silva vs Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera for the World Middleweight Title.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 full-screen PAL. Unfortunately, it is not up to digital television standards. This however, is a legacy of the poor source material, and not a poor transfer. Anyone who has been spoilt by the expansive production values of the aforementioned American and Japanese promotions will be disappointed by the decidedly amateurish look of Cage Rage. To back this up, only two camera positions are used throughout the event, one from overhead and the other from outside the cage through the mesh!

Another point to make is that the replays - limited though they are - are of very poor quality.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is average in quality. Again, this is more than likely due to poor source material. The audio seems to struggle with mild distortion when the commentators raise their voices in excitement.

Speaking of the commentators, ex-Pride announcer Stephen Quadros leads the team again in his interesting and knowledgeable manner.

Features

Extras on this disc are limited to interviews with the contestants, conducted by Stephen Quadros. Some of these are horrendous, with several of the fighters showing no charisma whatsoever, which is hardly good for business.

Conclusion

Cage Rage is always going to be compared to its more illustrious American and Japanese counterparts, and there is very little that the company can do to end that trend. Therefore, it is inspiring to note that Cage Rage is committed to fast, attacking bouts with plenty of stand-up action. This is something that PRIDE, for example, cannot always guarantee, such is their use of mat-based wrestlers and jiu-jitsu practitioners.

The flip-side of that coin is that, when these attacking bouts are very short - as many of this event`s bouts were - critics are quick to suggest that the fighters` stamina is an issue, or that they lack defensive skill.

From an MMA fan`s perspective, I can honestly say that I enjoyed Cage Rage 11. Yes, the fights were often quick to finish, but they were also explosive, unlike many of the tactical snoozefests I`ve witnessed from Japan and America over the years. I can recommend this to fight fans who are non-plussed by lavish production values, and have an interest in the UK`s interpretation of the sport.