Review of UFC 67: All or Nothing

Introduction

In the weeks prior to UFC 67: All or Nothing, rumours had been rife that the UFC`s parent company Zuffa, was negotiating to buy the rival PRIDE FC promotion. But fans did not have to wait for that potential sale to go through to see some "inter-promotional" fights, as PRIDE stalwarts Mirko CroCop and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson jumped before they were pushed, and made their debuts on this show. CroCop (real name Mirko Filipovic) was coming off a gruelling win the PRIDE Open Weight tournament at the end of 2006, and Jackson had been rebuilding his career in the lower-league World Fighting Alliance.

Both of those men were handed supposedly easy bouts, with CroCop facing fellow heavyweight Eddie Sanchez, and Jackson facing veteran Marvin Eastman at Light-Heavyweight. So whilst there was much intrigue there, the real competition in UFC 67 was left to the main event of Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter, for Silva`s Middleweight title. But in the end, that bout failed to materialise in championship form, when Lutter was unable to make weight the previous day. The bout did take place, but as a non-title match.

UFC 67 was held on 3rd February 2007, from the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. The production values for this event were typically high, with the Octagon beautifully lit, ensuring a great viewing experience on DVD. Furthermore, the transfer is excellent, particularly so because of its live-to-tape nature. There are no noticeable digital artefacts or other errors.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good. Everything from in-Octagon action to commentary is easily heard throughout. English commentary is provided by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan, who are an excellent team.

There are also 2.0 tracks available in French, German, and Dutch.

Features

The usual 25 minute documentary adorns the extras here, and it is once again very much worth your while watching. The main reason for that is that it gives you a nice insight into the world of CroCop and Jackson, looking at their training, and how they prepare for their respective bouts. Both men are charismatic in tremendously different ways, and this documentary exemplifies that.

Conclusion

Several non-televised matches open up this DVD version of UFC 67, the first being a Lightweight bout between Dustin Hazelett and Diego Saraiva. Hazelett is a very large man for the 155lb division (he had previously fought at 170lbs), and while this was a reasonable contest, it will contain too much wrestling for some.

Antonio Inoki`s protégé Lyoto Machida was up next, contesting a Light-Heavyweight bout with Sam Hoger. Inoki was involved in probably the first highly-publicised mixed martial arts bout in 1976, against Muhammad Ali. According to legend, the match was scheduled to have a pre-determinded outcome, but either the two could not work out an acceptable finish, or Ali was concerned that Inoki, a talented amateur wrestler, might break the script. In the end, they went fifteen rounds without barely a touch between them. In any case, history did not repeat itself here, but UFC fans are certainly used to a great deal more.

Little was known about Tyson Griffin or Frankie Edgar before their bout here, but both men put themselves on the map, with a stunning Lightweight contest. The pace was tremendously fast, with both good striking, and some high-quality wrestling. There was also at least one occasion in which the bout seemed to be over, before a miraculous recovery saw the contest continue. Had this quality of bout been replicated in two bigger names, it likely would have been noted as one of the greatest MMA bouts of all-time.

I felt sorry for Middleweights Terry Martin and Jorge Rivera, who had to follow Griffin vs. Edgar, but they kept it incredibly short and sweet in the next encounter. And for as good as Griffin vs. Edgar was, Patrick Cote and Scott Smith gave us the diametric opposite in another 185lb bout, which made me grateful for the fast-forward button.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson livened things up in the pre-match talk for the next contest, hilariously noting that he would engage in some "black on black crime" with Marvin Eastman. Eastman had defeated Jackson six years previously, so this was a chance for "Rampage" to give back a receipt for that one. This bout lightened up in the second round, after a dull first, and a nice knockout ended it.

A very controversial bout took place next, as Roger Huerta faced John Halverson in a Lightweight contest. During the short bout, it was contended that the eventual winner struck his opponent with an illegal move (a knee to the head of a downed opponent), although replays seemed to suggest otherwise.

For long-time fans of the sport of MMA, the next match felt like the main event, even if Mirko CroCop was facing a much less experienced opponent in Eddie Sanchez. This was hardly a great bout, but just to see the quality of CroCop`s kickboxing in UFC was a real pleasure.

The main event of the evening had the sheen taken from it even before the fight, by the fact that the Middleweight championship was not on the line. But still, Anderson Silva and Travis Lutter put on a fine match, which showed off the exceptional skill of the eventual winner.

Overall, despite having a possible Match of the Year candidate here in Tyson Griffin vs. Frankie Edgar, it is difficult to say that UFC 67 is a must-see card. It was certainly exciting to watch the debuts of CroCop and Jackson, but their bouts were both a little formulaic, and neither man was heavily challenged. That, coupled with the anti-climatic nature of the non-tile main event spoiled the event somewhat. So while this release is no dud, you will certainly want to begin your UFC collection elsewhere.