Review of UFC: Ultimate Japan & Brazil

Introduction

In the latest release from FightDVD, we got back in time with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to the first two times that the company moved outside of the United States to promote an event. The results were "Ultimate Japan" and "Ultimate Brazil".

Both countries had traditions in mixed martial arts, although in varying ways. Japan had pioneered modern "shoot" wrestling, which was professional wrestling that many in the 1980s believed was the real deal. By 1993, there was also the Pancrase promotion, a pre-cursor to MMA, which featured both legitimate and pre-determined matches, although it was mostly difficult to tell the difference.

Going much further back, Brazil`s tradition largely began with the Gracie family, their patented style of ju-jitsu, and their "Gracie Challenge", in which they invited all-comers to test their toughness. In the early 1990s, the family - along with John Milius, who co-wrote Apocalypse Now - helped to put together the original UFC, won by Royce Gracie.

Ultimate Japan - held on 21st December 1997, from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan - featured two title matches (as well as a one-night tournament) as Frank Shamrock and Kevin Jackson contested a bout for the new UFC Middleweight Title, and Maurice Smith defended the Heavyweight Title against Randy Couture.

Ultimate Brazil - held on 16th October 1998, from the Ginasio da Portuguesa in Sao Paulo, Brazil - was headlined by a further two championship bouts, as Pat Miletich and Mikey Burnett struggled over the newly-created Lightweight Title, and Frank Shamrock defended the Middleweight crown against John Lober.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and across the two events, wavers somewhat in quality. The main difference is not in the transfer, which is good throughout, but rather the production values of each show.

Ultimate Japan is very darkly lit, which is a stark contrast to the Ultimate Brazil show (and, in fact, almost every other UFC show), which is lit vibrantly. As such, the Japan show feels dull, and lacking in audience participation. There`s no question of the lighting distorting your enjoyment of the various fights, it is simply that the dark Yokohama Arena fails to capture the positive sporting mood that the UFC has always tried to have.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and once more there is disparity between the two discs of this set.

Whereas the audio on Ultimate Brazil meets the expected standards, the sound on Ultimate Japan lacks treble, and has a slightly muffled effect. This affects the commentary (provided on both shows by Jeff Blatnick and Mike Goldberg) in particular, though it is also evident in the sound of the crowd. That is not so noticeable, since the Japanese crowds are very quiet compared to their American counterparts.

Features

There are no extras on this set.

Conclusion

When looking at UFC shows from the past (admittedly, it is only ten years, but that`s a lifetime ago given the evolution of this sport), it is difficult to judge them by the standards of today`s competition. That`s not only in terms of fight technique, but also in terms of entertainment.

By today`s standards, Ultimate Japan would be considered a very poor show, and Ultimate Brazil would be considered an average one. Across the two events, there were no stand-out contests, six good contests, and three that were barely watchable. That leaves three that were somewhere in the middle.

Ultimate Japan began with a tournament semi-final, in which "Tank" Abbott faced pro wrestler Yoji Anjoh. This fight lasted much longer than it should have done, which was in direct contrast to the second semi-final between Kazushi Sakuraba (yet to become a Japanese national hero with the PRIDE organisation) and Conan Silveira, which on first glance appeared to have been stopped prematurely, although the replay did not support that claim. Frank Shamrock vs Kevin Jackson has got to be one of the shortest title matches in MMA history.

Vitor Belfort vs Joe Charles was an interesting contest, as it was a straight grappling match, in which no strikes were exchanged. The announcers suggested that this was because Belfort wanting to show off his wrestling technique, but it has long been speculated that Belfort and Charles agreed prior to the bout, that no punches would be thrown.

The tournament final was somewhat of a farce (for reasons I`ll allow you to discover for yourself), but at least it was an entertaining contest, which was exactly what the main event of Maurice Smith vs Randy Couture was not. This match featured virtually zero moments of excitement, with one participant instead settling for holding down his opponent for the best part of twenty minutes. Not exactly the way to win yourself fans…

Sadly, Ultimate Brazil did not open with much more promise, as Ebenezer Fontes Braga and Jeremy contrived to bore everyone with lots of (seemingly) non-violent clinching, but at least Tsuyoshi Kosaka and Pete Williams turned things up considerably in the second bout, a back-and-forth contest that was always fought with an attacking verve.

The proceeding Lightweight title contest, between Pat Miletich and Mikey Burnett, was actually so poor that at times it appears like a parody of MMA itself, especially when both fighters attempt to control the other by pulling on their shorts. Having to put a brave face on things, UFC President Bob Meyrowitz later said that this was "a great war, and great to watch". Away from the cameras, the live audience then watched in bewilderment as his nose grew by a good 3ft.

Much more deserving of praise is the "Tank" Abbott bout with Pedro Rizzo, which was a great deal of fun in the standing exchanges, though a lot slower on the ground. There`s a lot that could be said about Tank`s technical ability and stamina, but certainly in this time period, he brought excitement to the product.

Rounding things off was the Middleweight Title bout, as Frank Shamrock defended his title against John Lober. This was a very competitive, busy fight, which was very good on the ground, yet also had moments of devastating striking.


Overall, UFC Ultimate Japan and Ultimate Brazil is a remarkably mixed bag. The likes of the Conan Silveira vs Kazushi Sakuraba, Tsuyoshi Kosaka vs Pete Williams, and Frank Shamrock vs John Lober bouts, which were all entertaining fights, are offset here by the dreadful Pat Miletich vs Mikey Burnett, and Maurice Smith vs Randy Couture contests. What makes things worse, especially in terms of Ultimate Japan, is that Smith vs Couture was the marquee match of the night.

Away from the bout quality, regular UFC fans may be frustrated by the lower quality video and audio on Ultimate Japan. Though some of this, such as the dark arena and the almost silent crowd, is just the way the Japanese did things at the time, it doesn`t compare well to today`s product, or even the Ultimate Brazil show. Ultimate Japan is still very watchable, but it is notably different.

In conclusion, this 2-disc set from FightDVD is not one at which to begin your UFC experience. At time, even long-time fans may find this release difficult to enjoy.