Review of Cage Rage: 16 Critical Condition

Introduction

Held on 22nd April 2006 at the regular venue of the Wembley Conference Centre, "Critical Condition" was Cage Rage`s sixteenth outing into the MMA market. On that night, thirteen bouts were on the card, but this DVD release has been shortened to a perhaps more palatable eight, coming in at over 2 ½ hours for the main feature.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is good for a DVD of this genre. The image is generally clean, although it lacks the stunning vibrancy of PRIDE and UFC shows. That, of course, is a source issue and not a transfer issue.

Camerawork has improved greatly over the last few Cage Rage events, and here the main image is taken from just above the cage, so we get a nice - not too distant! - bird`s eye view of the competitors. One thing that the company will have to work on, however, is the replays of the action, which in some cases were not of particularly good quality.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is of good quality for a DVD of this genre. Commentary is provided primarily by Stephen Quadros, who continues to be excellent in the role, bringing prestige to the company. Both commentary and in-ring escapades can be clearly heard at all times.

Features

The only extra feature of the disc is a series of interviews with the fighters, conducted by Quadros. Perhaps for the first time on a Cage Rage DVD, these are very much worth watching.

Conclusion

The DVD`s first bout, Edson Drago vs Tengiz Tedoradze, was also the shortest, and perhaps one of the shortest MMA bouts of all-time. Obviously, it isn`t a great match as such, but this knockout is worth seeing!

Ryan Robinson and Mark Epstein were up next, contesting a ground-based battle which was at least busy, which means that both men attempted to win decisively, something which isn`t always the case in ground battles.

After two decent opening matches, Brad "One Punch" Pickett and Hiroyuki Abe unleashed a belter of a contest. When I spoke to him recently, Pickett was very vocal on his dislike of meandering heavyweight bouts, and proved a point here by engaging with Abe in a long but fast-paced bout, which was one of the best I`ve seen all year.

Standards dropped only slightly in the next match, as Jorge Patino faced Curtis Stout in what was a classic ju-jitsu vs kickboxing bout. It may have been long, and predominately ground-based, but it was a fascinating clash of styles and a show of great technique by the eventual winner.

Even above Pickett vs Abe, Amar Soloev and James Nicholl contested the match of the night in the next bout. A showcase of brutal stand-up striking, there were several occasions when I thought the bout would surely be stopped. This was an excellent contest, and a must-see for MMA fans.

After such a fantastic previous bout, it was no surprise that Dave Strasser and Paul Daly were unable to follow it, and this bout was just too long considering how one-sided it was.

In the semi-main event, Dave Menne took on Alex Reid in what was another long fight, fought a lot on the ground. The main event picked things up once again though, as Anderson Silva - described by promoter Andy Geer as "the best middleweight in the world - faced Tony Frykland in what was a one-sided encounter, but one which showcased some excellent technique, and had a finish unlike one I`ve ever seen.

As Cage Rage continues to get more exposure, and become even more popular, so it seems that the quality of their in-ring action continues to improve. This was a very good show, and one that didn`t even have two of Cage Rage`s biggest names - Evangelista Santos and heavyweight champion Melvin Manhoef - on the card.

If you are a fan, this is a must-own. If you haven`t encountered Cage Rage before, this is a great place to start.