Review of UFC 53: Heavy Hitters

Introduction

"Can you imagine seeing him in UFC 1? There was nothing like this back then". So said co-commentator Joe Rogan of kickboxer Andrei Arlovski, one of the participants in the interim Heavyweight Championship bout at UFC "Heavy Hitters". Indeed, in the early days of UFC it was invariably the jiu-jitsu practitioner or the wrestler who emerged with the win, such was their ability to grab an opponent & force him to submit. But in recent years the quality of strikers (like Arlovski, generally kickboxers) has improved so much that that is no longer true to say. No longer are strikers afraid of being caught by wrestlers; wrestlers are afraid of being knocked out clean by a striker.

Another benefit of this natural change has been the quality of bouts. These days, the wear-down hold has become a thing of the past in UFC, as most of the action takes place with both fighters looking for a knockout. So, whilst the UFC may not have a recognised star in the way that Royce Gracie or Ken Shamrock were, the product is better for it.

"Heavy Hitters" then, the 53rd UFC pay-per-view spectacular, was held on 4th June 2005 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The main event featured the aforementioned Andrei Arlovski taking on Justin Eilers in an interim Heavyweight title bout, the previous champion Frank Mir having been sidelined after a serious motorcycle accident.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 full screen and is taken from the television master. For a DVD of this genre, it is very good, at least as good as you would expect from a digital television broadcast.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 & is also very good considering that it is taken from the television master. Commentary is always clear, as is the live crowd, and with the cameras taking us inside the Octagon, we are also able to hear several of the big strikes land on their victim.

Features

As on previous UFC DVDs, the extras are limited by the fact that the main feature lasts over two hours. That said, there are some interesting things here, such as pre-match weigh-ins, autograph sessions and pre & post-match interviews. There may be little here that is for repeated viewing, but this set of extras adds a little flavour to the main feature.

Conclusion

Excitement. That is the name of the game in mixed martial arts television. It isn`t about the biggest name stars or even about technical expertise. That is not to say that there are not great fighters competing in "Heavy Hitters", but it is a testament to the athletes here that whilst few of them are big-name stars, this was an excellent evening`s entertainment.

With not one poor match on show, it may also be the most consistent that the UFC has been over the course of a full show. Of particular note were the performances of the Arlovski, David Loiseau, and Nathan Quarry, all of whom mixed powerful striking with intelligent strategy.

UFC 53 "Heavy Hitters" was an excellent event, the production of which was also very good, as was the treatment given to this DVD.