UFC 73: Stacked

Coming off the rather average bill that was the UFC 72 pay-per-view in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UFC 73 was every bit as "stacked" as its tag-name suggested.

Not only was the Middleweight Title defended by Anderson Silva here, against Nate Marquardt, but the Lightweight Title was also contested between champion Sean Sherk and challenger Hermes Franca.

But that was not all. Former PRIDE Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira made his UFC debut, facing another former PRIDE competitor, Heath Herring. And in what was quite the grudge match, Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans attempted to step up in contention for the Light-Heavyweight Title, as he faced perennial main-eventer Tito Ortiz.

UFC 73: Stacked was held on 7th July 2007, from the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.

Video is presented in 4:3 full screen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. The production values are typically high, without being distracting to the event. The actual transfer to DVD is also very good, with no noticeable digital artefacts.





Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good for a DVD of this genre. Everything is well mixed, meaning that in-Octagon action and commentary are easily heard alongside the other.

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





The usual "Behind the Scenes" featurette is present here once again, this time highlighting Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt and Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca. Along with lots of interesting video footage, we get a look at the fighters' preparation, the weigh-ins, a different perspective of the fight itself, and the post-match fall-out.





UFC 73 began with several preliminary bouts that didn't make the American pay-per-view broadcast. That, however, is to the gain and not the detriment of this DVD set, with the bout between Jorge Gurgel and Diego Saraiva in particular being fantastic - so good in fact that it was probably the fight of the night. Mark Bocek vs. Frankie Edgar and Chris Lytle vs. Jason Gilliam were short, sweet encounters, and with the latter, if there's a better submission finish ever been applied in modern MMA history, I don't recall it.

The main card had its great moments, too, from the first bout between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Heath Herring, which threatened to be a major upset at more than one point. Sean Sherk's Lightweight title match with Hermes Franca was another fine bout, though moreso for the wonderful performance from the eventual winner. Kenny Florian's contest with Alvin Robinson (edited from the end of the show on live pay-per-view to this point on the DVD) was mostly a ground affair, but it was still an enjoyable, fast-paced match-up.

Tito Ortiz' bout with Rashad Evans was interesting, but in terms of the in-Octagon again, was not as involving as anything that had taken place previously - that despite the fact that it was the one bout on the card that appeared to have a serious grudge going in. Anderson Silva's main event Middleweight Title defence against Nate Marquardt was a good bout, but in the end, lacked the competitiveness that you associate with a main event.





Overall, UFC 73: Stacked might have had some big names on the card, but when it came to bell-time, those top-tier matches didn't quite provide the entertainment that the UFC might have expected. Some of that is down to impressive performances - Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca and Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt - but in other cases, like Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans, the bout just did not live up to its hype.

That, however, is the price of high expectations. This is still a fun UFC card, that fans will want to own.