Review for UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Valasquez

Introduction

When UFC President Dana White outlined his plans for world domination he couldn't have chosen a further trip for his first destination.

The UFC landed in Sydney, Australia, and boy did they treat those Aussies to a stacked night of fights.

In the main event the powers that be pitted the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira against young destroyer Cain Valasquez. In a clash which is old vs. new and with both men harbouring title ambitions it was a huge main event.

The local crowd were also treated to the world renowned 'Axe Murderer' Wanderlei Silva, as he took on England's Michael Bisping. In a fight which is virtually guaranteed to be contested solely on the feet both men will want to put it all on the line in order to establish themselves in the middleweight division. 

Not content with two PRIDE legends in Nogueira and Silva, the UFC had to provide the Aussies with one more, famed kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop. Originally set to face Ben Rothwell, who had to withdraw through illness, instead Cro Cop took on local fighter Anthony 'The Hippo' Perosh, thus splitting the local crowd between the legend and the local underdog.

Also on the card are mouth watering fights between Australia's own George Sotiropoulos and TUF season two winner Joe Stevenson and fan favourite Keith Jardine and another TUF winner, this time season eight, Ryan Bader.

There are also some more excellent fights on the preliminary card, Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski is a guaranteed war, Chris Lytle is never in a boring fight, as he takes on Brian Foster and Goran Reljic makes his return to fight CB Dollaway.

Video

Video is 4:3 PAL and is another exceptionally shot UFC event. Camera and lighting are, as always, great.

Audio

Audio is 2.0 Dolby Digital and again there can be no complaints here. We get entertaining commentary from Mike Goldberg and comedian Joe Rogan.

Extras

Finally we get a little more for our money when it comes to the second disc. It may only be the addition of fighter interviews, but it feels like a whole lot more than the monotony of the behind the scenes, weigh-in show and countdown show combination.

Behind the scenes is, as always, the best extra. We see how the fighters prepare and relax in the build in to the fights. We also learn a little of how the UFC set up and run their events. It is a fairly long and interesting segment which is really the most 'exclusive' thing on the whole DVD.

In fact the fighter interviews segment prove to be very good as well, we get pre and post fight comments from every fighter on the card. This added to the usual three extras finally makes the second disc more worthy. The other three extras were always solid, but variety is the spice of life, and the recent UFC DVD extras have felt a little boring. Now we get something more, and it makes it feel more like value for money.


Conclusion

The UFC's first trip to Australia is a huge success. Most of the fights on this card are extremely exciting. The main event certainly lives up to it's billing. It is a 'blink and you'll miss it' affair, but it there is certainly a whole lot of drama in the fight.

Elsewhere, the Silva-Bisping bout is a hell of a fight. Both men emerge from the fight with a huge amount of credit after delivering a great show to the fans. 

Another great bout is the match-up between Sotiropoulos and Stevenson. It felt like Stevenson underestimated his opponent a little before the fight and the local fan favourite Sotiropoulos puts on an absolute clinic in grappling. It is a fight that shows to casual MMA fans that grappling can be just as exciting as any stand-up bout.

Jardine-Bader is a good back and forth fight with a sting in the tail and Cro Cop vs. Perosh is bloody battle in which the local hero Perosh shows a lot of heart.

The prelims are also stacked full of good fights, from James Te-Huna's battle with Igor Pokrajac to Chris Lytle's fight with Brian Foster. But the pick of the bunch is Bonnar and Soszynski. Bonnar is no stranger to wars inside the Octagon and he fights tooth and nail here with 'The Polish Experiment'. There is also lots of controversy in the finish.

A great card of fights, combined with some slick extras for a change make this DVD a great addition to your MMA collection.