Review of Pride FC: Middleweight Grand Prix 2005 (Six Discs)

Introduction

According to host Mauro Ranallo, the 2005 version of the bi-annual PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix was the most talented assembly of fighters ever in one tournament. And given that fighters such as Wanderlei Silva, Hidehiko Yoshida, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira were all taking part, that was almost more of an understatement than it was the contrary.

The PRIDE Grand Prix tournaments are a throwback to the old days of UFC, since the eventual winner has to win defeat two opponents in one night (at Final Conflict) to emerge victorious. If that didn`t sound difficult enough, there are the Total Elimination and Critical Countdown stages to pass as well.

Total Elimination 2005 took place on 23rd April 2005, at the Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan. Critical Countdown 2005 took place on 26th June 2005, from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The culminating event, Final Conflict 2005, took place on 28th August 2005, once more from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. The image is ever-so-slightly soft, which is a legacy of its NTSC origins, but everything is clear, and there are no distracting digital artefacts.

Production values are tremendous, and the camerawork is always of a high order.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good for a DVD of this genre. The 2.0 track is mixed well, meaning that crowd reactions, in-ring action, and commentary (provided superbly by Mauro Ranallo and Bas Rutten) can all be easily heard. The reserved nature of the Japanese crowd also allows viewers to hear many of the instructions given by the fighters` corner.

Features

Each of the six discs in this set contain some form of extras, which means that there is more than enough available here to keep even ardent fans happy.

On Disc One, there is a both a fighter photo gallery, and one showcasing the PRIDE ring girls. There is a text look at the rules of PRIDE, and a glossary of fight terms, as well as some brief but informative biographies on the combatants. A look at the Total Elimination program and advertising poster rounds things off.

On Disc Two, we have a music video look at the fighter entrances (which is more interesting than it sounds) and the ring girls of PRIDE, a nine-minute preview of Total Elimination, and the "What is PRIDE?" featurette that has appeared on many previous releases. The main interest here, however, comes from the uncut fighter interviews, which include comments from the likes of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Kevin Randleman. Although the best bits of these aired during the main feature itself, these are certainly worth a listen.

Disc Three begins with a Critical Countdown-specific photo gallery, as well as another text look at a glossary of fight terms, and the rules of PRIDE. There are also brief fighter bios, and a look at the event program and poster.

Disc Four opens with a music video showcasing the fighters` ring entrances at Critical Countdown, and continues in a similar vein with a quick behind-the-scenes look at the event, and another look at PRIDE`s ring girls. The commercial that was used to build up the American pay-per-view broadcast is available, as is a short video preview of this stage of the tournament. The "What is PRIDE?" feature is repeated from Disc Two, but once again the main attraction is the uncut fighter interviews, which on this occasion speak to the fighters before and after their bouts. Though it wasn`t particularly entertaining, perhaps the most telling is the post-match interview with Mirko CroCop.

Disc Five follows the same pattern as previous Discs One and Three, with a Final Conflict-specific photo gallery, a glossary of fight terms and the rules of PRIDE, some brief fighter bios, and a look at the event poster and program. Also included is the commercial for the American pay-per-view version of the show.

Disc Six (phew!) repeats the "What is PRIDE?" feature for the second time, and also has another music video look at the fighter ring entrances, and the ring girls of PRIDE. There are also two short video packages, one building up the event itself, and one focusing on the long-awaited battle between Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko CroCop. Once again, the uncut pre-fight interviews make for the most interesting extra here, with comments from fighters such as Hidehiko Yoshida, David "Tank" Abbott, and Fedor Emelianenko.

Conclusion

In total, twenty-two bouts occur across this six-disc box set, from the beginning of Total Elimination, to the end of Final Conflict. But for the benefit of those who prefer to watch these events without knowing the victors, I`ll only comment on the first-round tournament bouts, and the non-tournament encounters.

As it happens, things could not have got off to a worse start than they did, as the opening match of the tournament pitted Kazuhiro Nakamura against Kevin Randleman. So early in proceedings, this was a bout which almost ruined my enjoyment of the entire show.

Sadly, Ricardo Arona vs Dean Lister was only marginally better, and Yuki Kondo vs Igor Vovchanchyn and Vitor Belfort vs Alistair Overeem were also lacklustre encounters, which stayed on the ground much longer than they should have, considering the combatants.

I don`t know if there was something in Japanese water or not, but the problems continued even into the match between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Dan Henderson. Don`t get me wrong, this was leagues ahead of Nakamura vs Randleman or Arona vs Lister, but this was a great piece of match-making that did not live up to the hype.

Quickly skipping over Kazushi Sakuraba vs Yoon Dong Sik, a bout which was over before it started, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson then put forth the match of the night, which included some brutal striking, and a standout performance from the eventual winner. Fans of PRIDE`s rules which allow kicking on the ground (illegal in UFC) will enjoy this one!

Total Elimination concluded with Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva (whose title was not on the line) facing crowd-favourite Hidehiko Yoshida. Even with the fans so vehemently behind Yoshida, this contest was another let-down, with both men either off-colour, or more likely, overly defensive.

After the frustration of Total Elimination, Critical Countdown simply had to come out of the blocks with a bang, and thankfully the opening non-tournament bout between Sergei Kharitonov and Pedro Rizzo delivered exactly that. This was a short, stand-up encounter, typical of both men.

The next two non-tournament bouts could hardly have been more different, as Mirko CroCop faced Ibragim Magomedov (a protégé of Fedor Emelianenko), and Kiyoshi Tamura squared off against Makoto Takimoto. The former was a one-sided encounter, which featured some excellent striking, and a great finish, and the latter was a cagey snoozefest which was not befitting of what had been an excellent show so far.

A passable Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Pawel Nastula bout completed the non-tournament proceedings, but as enjoyable as some of those bouts were, the Middleweight tournament matches really took precedence at Critical Countdown. In fact, a match of the year candidate between two Brazilian fighters was the highlight here, an amazingly hard-fought contest which was excellent from start to finish.

Final Conflict 2005 began with the two semi-final bouts (and also the "alternates" bout to cover for injuries), which allowed the fighters somewhat of a breather, before having to return for the final at the end of the show. So all of the non-tournament bouts were stuck in the middle of the show, beginning with a rather drab bout between Fabricio Werdum and Roman Zenstov, which neither the crowd nor the announcers seemed particularly bothered about.

Even after that, things took a significant dive as Hidehiko Yoshida faced "Tank" Abbott in an encounter in which Abbott contributed even less than usual.

Thankfully, the long-awaited World Heavyweight Title match was much, much better, as Fedor Emelianenko finally squared off against Mirko CroCop. This bout truly felt like a main event, which was unsurprising given that fact that it been in the pipeline since 2003. This bout centred around the question of what would happen if the previously-unstoppable Fedor was struck with CroCop`s knockout special, the left high kick. It would be too much to suggest that the contest itself was a match of the year candidate, but it was certainly a satisfying encounter.

Only the final of the Middleweight tournament then remained, fought between two contestants that would not have been the bookies` favourites. In any case, the finish to the bout made for a great way to end the Grand Prix 2005.


Overall, the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix 2005 was a very mixed bag, going from the sublime to the dreadful. In particular, the Total Elimination show was wracked with overly-defensive tactics, something which to a lesser extent affected Final Conflict as well. Of the three shows, only Critical Countdown was a real winner.

Extras on this set are bountiful, but fall short of being must-see material. They do, however, provide some extra flavour to each show.

With the audio and video maintaining the high standards that have been set by PRIDE releases, the Middleweight Grand Prix 2005 is certainly one to consider for your MMA collection. However, it is not in the same league as the excellent 2003 Grand Prix, nor the superb 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix, the latter of which also appears as a six-disc box set.