Review for UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans

Introduction

This one was a long time in the making.

After months of will he wont he, Rampage Jackson finally agreed to return to his fighting career, quickly deciding that acting wasn't for him, and fight hated rival "Suga" Rashad Evans.

After retiring from mixed martial arts and falling out with his boss Dana White, Rampage went on to star in the A-Team movie, playing childhood hero BA Baracus and delaying a proposed fight with Evans, which would have been a book-ender for The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights at UFC 108.

The self-imposed retirement didn't last, however, and hatchets were soon buried so that Rampage could make good on all the trash talking and aim to defeat Evans here.

The main event may have been sorted, but the co-main event suffered from the now monthly injury which forces a big name out of a UFC card. This time it was Forrest Griffin who was the unfortunate recipient of an injury forcing the powers that be to scrap his co-headliner with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, replacing Griffin with the tri-athalon training Jason Brilz and promoting Michael Bisping and Dan Miller to the penultimate bout of the night.

Elsewhere there were two prospects on display as heavyweight stud Todd Duffee fought Mike Russow and would-be lamb-to-slaughter John Hathaway met TUF 1 star Diego Sanchez.

This card was propped up by some more than solid prelims, with Amir Sadalloh meeting Korean starlet Dong Hyun Kim in a grappling vs. striking battle. Also Efrain Escudero met Dan Lauzon and for any fan of striking how about Cyrille Diabate vs. Luiz Cane?

Video

Standard 4:3 PAL provides the pictures, and as always we get the best produced mixed martial arts events. The UFC is the premier MMA organisation and in any of their events it is fairly obvious why.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 provides the sound, and you wont miss a punch, kick or bone crushing submission here.

Extras

Here we get fighter interviews, the weigh-in show (watch for a proper stare down between Rampage and Rashad) and the behind the scenes segment. 

Whilst the others do exactly what is said on the tin, the behind the scenes extra is by far the most interesting to those who bother with extras. Here we learn a lot about some of the fighters on the card, mainly Evans, whose media friendly image means we learn a lot about the man and the fighter as he prepares for the fight. 

Conclusion

Well the main event didn't exactly live up to the hype. Whilst it wasn't a bad fight, it wasn't exactly a barn-burner either and after all the promises of knock-outs, ass kickings and career endings we actually got a wrestler vs. striker battle, in which each man had the upper hand at times.

It shows that sometimes too much hype can be a bad thing as barring a Bonnar-Griffin-esqe fight fans were more than likely going to walk away disappointed.

It is certainly grating when fighters promise to "knock his ass out" but then seem more concerned with planting his opponent's ass on the canvas and keeping it there by way of a good ol' double leg.

Elsewhere we got a fairly standard exercise between Bisping and Miller. Bisping's striking, whilst being technically good, lacks a certain level of explosiveness, and sometimes it shows in his fights. Here he pitter-pattered the game Miller but never looked like putting his opponent away.


Instead the UFC would have been better leaving Nogueira in his co-main event spot, thanks in no small part to his short notice opponent Brilz who, despite having been expected to be chewed up and spat out by the Brazilian, brought his A-game and gave the highly rated younger brother of Rodrigo Nogueira fits.

The Brit, Hathaway was another who proved the predictions wrong as he put on a career best performance against the Yes-chanting Sanchez, a brutal knee midway through the first round being the pick of the beating he put on his highly favoured opponent. 

But the shock of the night came in the Russow-Duffee fight. This one has to be seen to be believed. I dare not ruin it, you'll have to watch for yourself to find out.

Some solid prelims here, with the pick being the battle between Diabate and Cane. These two went back and forth as Cane put his Muay Thai against "The Snake's" much vaunted kick-boxing skills.

A good selection of extras props up some decent fights and if you, like me, have been waiting a long time to see Rampage and Rashad put up or (finally) shut up then this is an essential addition to your DVD collection.