Review of UFC 49: Unfinished Business

Introduction

UFC stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship and here`s number 49, billed as Unfinished Business. It`s titled like this as it features as it`s main attraction the re-match of Randy Couture, an American aged 41 (!), and Vitor Belfort, a much younger Brazilian. Their previous bout saw Couture lose his Light Heavyweight title to the Latin American due to a bad cut after roughly 20 seconds. Couture believes he was deprived of his title unfairly and wants it back. This is their third bout with Couture the victor of the first.

UFC is an MMA. It took me a long time to work out what this stood for but it`s an acronym for Mixed Martial Arts. There appear to be some rules, but to my untrained eye it looks as if any kind of mix between wrestling and martial arts is allowed in these bouts. Therefore you`ll see fighters with maybe a background in wrestling against ju-jitsu experts, both using a variety of styles to win their fights.

The bouts include here are (with respective weights in brackets):

Yves Edwards [154.5] vs. Josh Thomson [156] - prelim
Nick Diaz [168.5] vs. Karo Parisyan [169] - prelim
Ron Jhun [170] vs. Chris Lytle [169.5] - prelim
Chuck Liddell [206] vs. Vernon White [200]
Matt Lindland [185] vs. David Terrell [185]
Mike Kyle [237] vs. Justin Eilers [232]
Joe Doerksen [184.5] vs. Joe Riggs [185]

Vitor Belfort [205] vs. Randy Couture [204] - Light Heavyweight Championship

Video

As with it`s wrestling counterparts, this was originally broadcast on pay-per-view TV so the picture is not blockbuster standard. It does the job but it`s no better really than the original broadcast.

Audio

Loud nu-metal soundtrack with constantly crunching guitars between bouts and throughout the extras, inane commentary throughout the bouts; what more could a fan ask for? Does the job and it`s presumably worked on all the previous UFC releases…

Features

The extras are effectively behind the scenes footage that would have been shown as part of the main show. Not that I know this for certain as I`ve never seen anything remotely UFC before, but the segments are so short and roughly edited together on the DVD as to suggest they appear in more appropriate positions of the original TV broadcast. For what it`s worth, they`re listed as:

Pre-show highlights
Eilers vs Kyle showdown
Eilers vs Kyle post-fight
Lindland and Tyrell go to war
Liddell and White prepare for battle
Chuck Liddell post-fight
Couture and Belfort settle the score
Randy Couture post-fight
UFC 49 fight highlights

Conclusion

If I said I`ve been putting off watching this for about three weeks, can you guess how much I was looking forward to watching the wide wide world of UFC? Yep, that much. It`s not just UFC, though, I`m not a fan of any type of fighting whether UFC, WWF/E or any other franchise you want to throw at me.

UFC is billed as a sport that is `as close as it gets` and this seems to be pretty accurate. Blood flows quite freely sometimes, mostly from what look like innocuous cuts. The title match between Couture and Belfort is a prime example. A small cut above the eye on one of the combatants sprays blood everywhere very quickly and both competitors end up drenched in it (and a splash appears on one of the cameras too).

That said, there seems to be a preference for these sportsmen not to indulge in the kind of fighting seen in slow motion at the end of a Hollywood blockbuster, so you rarely see the kind of teeth-jarring knock-out blows or kicks that Van Damme or Stallone dished out in their prime. These competitors will try to get close to their opponents and then try to pin them on the octagonal fence or floor. Once there it seems a battle of strength to either gain a submission via some sort of lock or attempt to see out the 5 minute bout time. To me this seemed quite boring, but then it`s also very realistic as anyone with an ounce of sense isn`t going to want to be beaten to a pulp in a show of machismo. Regardless of the techniques involved, I wouldn`t want to be anywhere near any of the competitors as I have no doubt this sport hurts, and hurts a lot.

What did annoy me is the penchant of announcing the sponsor before every single bout (and the advertising slogan as well!), when there is a logo on the pre-bout stats and a great big logo in the middle of the octagon. Ah, the pressures of sponsored TV. Annoying me more is the almost banal chatter of the two commentators, but bearing in mind the subject matter and the way this sport is pitched it`s not too surprising.

There would appear to be a feeling within the UFC world that the sport isn`t taken seriously by the mainstream. I`m not sure if this sport is an equal to its wrestling counterpart, but it seems to be trying. We have the same sort of posturing and acting; see the Couture/Belfort immediate post-match link-up with the champion of a different belt who just happened to be there with his belt draped over his shoulder. Thankfully it`s not as slick as wrestling so it doesn`t quite seem as theatrical as the wrestling does (what little I`ve seen).

Not really my thing, but I can recognise a big-selling franchise when I see one so it`s clear there is an audience out there. Obviously the main attraction here is Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort, the former seemingly the American darling of the sport. Anyone not interested in this particular bout can just choose from any of the other 17 UFC titles currently available.