Review of UFC 55: Fury

Introduction

Held on 7th October 2005 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, UFC 55 bore the subtitle of "Fury". With a tinge of irony, it could be argued that the "fury" was actually on the part of the average UFC fan, for what seemed to be a B-level card, with only Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski a real star here.

Still, this was the chance for the heavyweights to shine, and for the viewer to assess the quality of challengers to Arlovski`s undisputed crown.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is excellent. It is even better than the digital television broadcast that UK fans were treated to from Bravo, which is no mean feat. UFC obviously realise that their DVD market is to be respected, and this transfer reflects that.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is also very good, although one would expect nothing less considering the source. There are a couple of instances of "interesting" language, particularly at the end of Arlovski vs Buentello, but nothing that your average twelve year old hasn`t heard a few hundred times.

Commentary is ably provided by Craig Hummer and Joe Rogan.

Features

There are several short extra features on this DVD, some of which are more interesting than others. There are weigh-ins for the competition, scenes of the fighters choosing their gloves, signing autographs, as well as pre and post-fight comments from the combatants. The latter extra is the most interesting, of course, especially since interview segments are included, giving you an insight into their strategy, or how they are feeling after their respective matches.

These extras are very much worth watching, bringing a slightly different spin to the event.

Conclusion

If the promoters were derided for poor match-making in the build-up to this event, UFC 55`s combatants didn`t exactly dig them out of a hole here. It is generally accepted that the company`s light-heavyweights are significantly more skilled than their heavyweight counterparts - and Chuck Liddell is easily their biggest drawing card - but this was a fairly poor showing even at that. Furthermore, if the company do not find an able competitor to Andrei Arlovski, the division is going to die a death.

The matches featuring Arlovski and Buentello, Riggs against Lyttle, Rivera and Hallman, and Sakara and Faircloth did not nothing for me, although I suppose that the latter was developing into an interesting contest before a brutal - yet unintentional - kick caused a no-contest. On the other side of the coin, I did enjoy the stand-up slugfest between Sinosic and Griffin, and the nasty Brandon Lee Hinkle vs Sean Gannon bout. Brandon Lee Hinkle was unforgiving in his ground-and-pound offence which makes this match not one for the weak of heart.

All in all, I felt that UFC 55 was a disappointing affair, although not a particularly surprising one. Without the skills of Rich Franklin, Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture on show, I don`t know what the UFC promoters expected either.