Review of UFC 61: Bitter Rivals

Introduction

Its promoters call it the "sport of the future", and its enemies call it a fad. But numbers do not lie, and UFC 61 did bigger numbers than any other previous UFC event, and will almost certainly be in the top three American pay-per-view events of the year.

With a card containing what would be considered two main events, UFC 61 enticed 800,000 people to part with $40 for the privilege of watching from home. That`s almost $32m, not counting live gate receipts (which came to $3.3m) or merchandise sales.

Whilst the main event was technically the Heavyweight Title bout between champion Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, the real main event was the grudge match between Tito Ortiz, and sometimes pro wrestler Ken Shamrock. The build-up to the match was reminiscent of pro wrestling, in that there were several pull-aparts between the fighters during press conferences and the like. Both men also talked an incredible game, more so than any two opponents in UFC history.

This 2-disc DVD set from FightDVD includes the UFC 61 card - held on 8th July 2006 at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas - as well as a documentary about the build-up to the event, featuring the previously mentioned Sylvia, Arlovski, Ortiz, and Shamrock.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. This is once again a superb transfer from the NTSC original. Colours are bright, and there are no sign of compression or video artefacts. 4:3 - especially from a live-to-tape sporting event - doesn`t get any better than this.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Everything is clear, from fighter entrances (on which some of the music has been overdubbed, though this is but a minor complaint), to in-Octagon action, to commentary, which is provided superbly by Mike Goldberg and Randy Couture.

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

Features

The extras on this set - contained on Disc Two - consist of a 45 minute behind the scenes look at the fight preparations of Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Tito Ortiz, and Ken Shamrock. This is an excellent fly-on-the-wall documentary, as you get to see how the fighters like to prepare, how they cut weight, how they strategise etc. It is a fascinating look at how different one athlete can be from another, and a wonderful companion to this event.

Conclusion

UFC 61 was the most-watched, highest-grossing event in the company`s history. It is a shame that that was no guarantee of a befitting event.

The opening match on this DVD release is Drew Fickett vs Kurt Pellegrino. This, along with the next three bouts presented here, didn`t make the pay-per-view show due to time constraints. The match itself is hardly ground-breaking, but it is a good showcase of ground fighting.

Gilbert Aldana vs Cheick Kongo was next, in a good match which involved some brutal striking, before Jeff Monson faced Anthony Perosh in a bout which featured a surprise finish - not in terms of who emerged victorious, but in how that victory was achieved.

In the last of the non-televised fights, Hermes Franca faced Joe Jordan in a contest notable for being fought at catchweight (165lb). This is extremely rare in UFC, as the weight divisions are 155lbs and then 170lbs, but as Jordan took the bout on short notice, Franca agreed to fight him at 165lbs. Perhaps because of these circumstances, both fighters seemed tentative in the first two rounds, before the superior technique - and likely, conditioning - won out.

The pay-per-view proper began in somewhat shocking fashion, as Yves Edwards faced Joe Stevenson. Edwards in particular showed some tremendous striking here, although Stevenson was no slouch either. The bout had an unfortunate but memorable finish, and was the match of the night.

Former Heavyweight champion Frank Mir returned in the next bout, another step on his road to recovery, after a near-fatal motorcycle accident. His opponent here was Dan Christison, who had last been seen on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. This was a poor match, where both men`s conditioning was below standard. The fact that it was also a long bout hardly helped matters.

The following bout was not the main event, but Ortiz vs Shamrock was the encounter that the people came to see. Both its mega build-up and the crowd made this an edge-of-the-seat match, but it was sadly marred by a poor refereeing decision. The grudge would have to wait to another day to be settled.

After the poor finish to the previous match, Josh Burkman and Josh Neer had the unenviable task of working in front of a hostile crowd. They did a good job, and this was a very attack-based match, with a nice balance of wrestling and striking.

With the Heavyweight title clash of Sylvia vs Arlovski - also a "rubber match" , as these men had traded victories over the other recently - there remained the opportunity to send the fans home happy, after what was a decidely average card up until this point. Unfortunately - a word which seemed to sum up the evening - the bout failed to live up to even the most modest of expectations. Both men were very tentative, Arlovski in particular, a fact that he later blamed on a knee injury. Still, this was the worst match of the card, so much so that several hundred fans left the arena before this fight had ended.

Had this release been comprised solely of the pay-per-view matches, it would have been one of the poorest UFC showings in many a month. On any card, you can expect at least one or two sub-standard encounters, but when those two are your marquee matches, it counts for double in terms of the overall perception of the show.

It must be said however, that the slick editing of the DVD set improves things markedly, putting it over as a little more interesting that its original airing. This, however, does come with one slight drawback, in that the Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva fight announcement has been edited out, as the fight itself was cancelled just days after this event.

In any case, with the entire card available here, and a very interesting documentary accompanying it, this release is just about as good as anyone could have expected. But considering the quality of other UFC releases, that still makes it one to miss.