Review of "UFC 76: Knockout"

Introduction
UFC 76: Knockout, held on 22nd September 2007, from the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California, was an aptly named card, but perhaps not for obvious reasons. It was, after all, main-evented by former Light-Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell and Keith Jardine, with both men coming off somewhat surprising knockout losses, to Quinton Jackson and Houston Alexander respectively.

Also on the card, The Ultimate Fighter winner Forrest Griffin took his biggest step up to date, as he faced Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, believed by many to be the best Light-Heavyweight in the world. Rua's reputation was made in Japan for the PRIDE promotion, with impressive wins over Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Ricardo Arona, to name but a few. This would be his first match in the grounds of the UFC octagon.

Video
Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. It's a typical UFC production, meaning the camerawork and lighting of the Octagon - the most important things - are tremendous.

The transfer to DVD is also very good, with no digital artefacts noticeable.





Audio
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good. Audience noise, in-Octagon action, and commentary (provided by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan) can all be easily heard alongside the other.

There is another 2.0 also available, in French.





Extras
A sensational series of extras, which come on a second disc, back up the main feature.

We have the UFC Countdown show, which is shown on television prior to every UFC event, to hype up the individual matches. Here, it does an excellent job of hyping up "Shogun" Rua in particular, he being the fighter making his debut in the promotion.

There is also the typical UFC DVD "Behind The Scenes" program, which profiles Liddell vs. Jardine, and Rua vs. Griffin. It's also excellent, with a look at the fighters' training, a different view of the actual bout, and their post-match reactions. There is much interview footage along the way.

Speaking of which, we also have a fascinating post-event press conference, with several of the fighters, and Dana White, answering a number of questions. The latter's opinions on the PRIDE fighters, as well as the UFC's opposition groups, are worth the price of this DVD alone.

Coupled with all of this material, we have a UFC 76 photo slide show, as well as the weigh-ins.





Overall
Unlike UFC 75, the previous event, here at UFC 76, the main event matches largely lived up to their billing. Even if, ironically, there were no straight knockout victories throughout the nine bouts.

No bout lived up to its billing moreso than Forrest Griffin vs. "Shogun" Rua, which was fought at an incredible pace, between two tenacious fighters. The crowd's vehemence for Griffin only made the match even more dramatic.

Liddell vs. Jardine was different, but dramatic in its own way, too. The former Light-Heavyweight champion was expected to handily defeat the Ultimate Fighter graduate, but Liddell didn't have things all of his own way. The bout ending up being the equivalent of a kickboxing match, never making its way to the ground.

Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch was a fight that had well-versed MMA fans fascinated, ever since it was announced. And furthermore, it turned into a superb bout, which the crowd acknowledged with a standing ovation.

Perhaps the least attractive fight on the main card was Lyoto Machida vs. Kazuhiro Nazkamura, which was characterised by Machida's defensive style. But it was far from abhorrent, and sandwiched between Sanchez vs. Fitch, and the tremendous ground-based Tyson Griffin vs. Thiago Tavares bout, it was easy to bypass.

Even the undercard featured several good bouts, the exception being the rather static Christian Wellisch vs. Scott Junk bout. Michiko Omigawa vs. Matt Wiman, Jeremy Stephens vs. Diego Saraiva (which featured a remarkable, pro wrestling-style power bomb during the bout), and Rich Clementi vs. Andy Johnson, were all good pre-cursors to the main event attractions.





Overall, UFC 76: Knockout was a very good show, with a memorable main event, even if on the night, it was heavily eclipsed by the wonderful "Shogun" Rua vs. Forrest Griffin bout. Two such remarkable bouts on one card is a rarity, even for the UFC, and as such, this is an event which all UFC fans will want to own.