Review of UFC: 11 & 12

Introduction

FightDVD have once again dug into their archives to bring us Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 11 & 12, respectively subtitled "The Proving Ground" and "Judgement Day". The former, held on 20th September 1996 in Augusta, Georgia, featured the return to UFC of David "Tank" Abbott, who wowed the crowd at UFC 6 with his no-nonsense approach. "Judgement Day", held on 7th February 1997 in Dothan, Alabama, was main-evented by a battle of the heavyweights, as Mark Coleman went up against Dan "The Beast" Severn.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is quite good. Do not expect as much razzmatazz as WWE wrestling or more recent UFC events, you will be disappointed. Still, this is a more than acceptable transfer - and very good considering the source material - for a DVD of this genre.

Audio

Similarly, the audio, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, is also good. It`s vanilla (thanks, Mark!) but the commentary is always clear, and the in-ring action can also be heard in good detail.

Features

There are no extras present on this set.

Conclusion

UFC 11, "The Proving Ground", was an interesting event, in that it seemed obvious that the tournament was being set up to provide a final of Mark Coleman vs Tank Abbott. I won`t spoil the finale for those who haven`t come across the results, but I will say that Coleman was easily the most impressive fighter on the card, although the skill level of some of the other participants is certainly to be questioned. The card suffered both from fights that seemed uncompetitive, and some that were boring stalemates. The main event (tournament final), frankly, was a non-event. If you are curious, Google the results to find out what I mean.

UFC 12 was much better, however, and if Mark Coleman was the star of "The Proving Ground", then "Judgement Day" was all about Vitor Belfort. The main event here was also interesting, as Mark Coleman took on Dan Severn to declare the first UFC Heavyweight Champion, complete with championship belt. To build up the fight, they dug into the archives for bouts involving the protagonists: to UFC 5 for Severn`s bout with Oleg Taktarov, whom he really pounds into the canvas, and to UFC 10 for Coleman`s match with Moti Horenstein, which was shorter but not nearly as nasty.

Overall, therefore, this release is a mixed bag. At 288 minutes running time, at least you can skip the dross without losing too much. UFC (and mixed martial arts in general) has changed tremendously since 1996/97, for the better, and thus if you want my opinion, I`d look to some of FightDVD`s newer titles.