Personal Training with Jackie: 30 Day Fast Start DVD review

January 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Lose weight and get ripped in only 30 days may seem next to impossible, but Jackie Warner’s new DVD 30 Day Fast Start can get your body off to a fantastic start in the new year.

The celebrity fitness trainer has released two new workouts using the Power Pyramid Training method. With an upper body and lower body workout, Warner pushes your muscles to the limit with two powerful exercises combined into one set. The reps start off low, but continue to raise as you switch back and forth between the exercises. In the beginning of the DVD, Warner explains the method and the recommended hand weights depending on your sex. You have the option of watching either workout individually or collectively with both starting with some light stretching.

Push-ups and hammer curls is the first exercise in the upper body section. Every exercise must build up to 10 reps for each exercise. Start off at 1 for each seems like no problem and for many getting up for 10 may not be difficult. However, the switch to chest press and bicep curl will start to test your endurance level. There are about three straight chest and bicep exercises before you work out triceps the rest of the routine along with back and shoulders. With the correct weight you can easily burn a lot of fat and tighten almost your entire upper body.

Lower body exercises might be a little deceiving as one of the exercises in a set is combined with a shoulders exercise. With squats mixed with shoulder raises, two abs exercises combined, this one can feel a lot like a whole body workout instead of just targeting the lower body. No question this one is challenging even though there are no hand weights for the last few sets. With consistency even those that rarely workout can see results. Each workout is under 25 minutes, not taking up too much of your time to watch, but guaranteed they’re very intense minutes.

Personal Training with Jackie: 30 Day Fast Start

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Released on Dec. 6, 2011

Run time of 51 minutes

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UFC 136: Edgar VS. Maynard III DVD review

January 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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The rematch of arguably the fight of the year between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard for the Ultimate Fighting Championship Lightweight Title gave fight fans a finish to the spectacular trilogy at UFC 136.

On Jan. 1, 2011, Edgar and Maynard fought to a close draw. For almost a year UFC fans had to wait for the rematch to occur. Fortunately, the wait was well worth it. The third and final bout felt like deja vu at first with Maynard coming out strong in the first round with a furious onslaught. Maynard looked to have Edgar beat, but somehow Edgar was able to get up from the bombs Maynard was landing. In the second and third rounds Maynard looked gassed from his near win as Edgar started to gain momentum and started to take control of the fight. Unlike their new year’s day fight, this time there was a clear winner via TKO.

In possibly his last UFC title bout, Kenny Florian dropped weight to face UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. Aldo has looked almost untouchable since winning the championship and continue to look so against Florian. Aldo used his lethal kicks to slow down Florian and nearly stuffed all of Florian’s takedown attempts. In the championship rounds it looked like a struggle for Florian to continue as the welts on his legs continue to grow in colour.

Leonard Garcia continued to give fans of his work another outstanding performance in his rematch with Nam Phan. Garcia won the last one by a controversial split decision. This one ended up in a unanimous decision victory in favour of Phan, but it still a very close and entertaining fight. Garcia knew that Phan had won the first round and came back firing wildly in order to win the last rounds. While Garcia ate a lot of wild jabs, he also gave his fair share as well. In the most dominate performance of the night, Chael Sonnen submitted Brian Stann in the second round. While it took Sonnen a few minutes there was no question he was going to win the fight right from the start, barely giving Stann any chance to hit him. Sonnen immediately challenged Anderson Silva following the win and that got a laugh from the Middleweight Champion.

Eight fights went the distance at UFC 136, making it the longest UFC event of all-time. Even with the long grueling bouts there are still great submission endings, which include the 47 second victory Joe Lauzon scored over Melvin Guillard. Although this is becoming a familiar pattern with the 2011 UFC DVDs, this was definitely a must see show and delivered in almost every aspect for MMA fans.

UFC 136: Edgar VS. Maynard III

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Run time of 300 minutes

Released on Dec. 20, 2011

Prelims

Steve Cantwell vs. Mike Massenzio

Aaron Simpson vs. Eric Schafer

Zhang Tie Quan vs. Darren Elkins

Joey Beltran vs. Stipe Miocic

Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens

Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago

Main

Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon

Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann

Featherweight Championship José Aldo vs. Kenny Florian

Lightweight Championship Frankie Edgar  vs. Gray Maynard

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UFC 130: Rampage VS. Hamill DVD review

August 26, 2011 By 1 Comment
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Quinton Rampage Jackson pounded on Matt Hamill for three straight rounds and stuffed all of Hamill’s takedown attempts in an easy unanimous decision victory to become no.1 contender again at UFC: 130.

Anything that looked threatening Jackson was able to either block or counter back with a flurry of punches or a surprise kick. It was nearly a perfect setup for an eventual knockout, however Hamill showed his toughness and took all of Rampage’s shots. In his post fight interview, Rampage credits Hamill for being tough and says he knew Hamill was going to try and take him down and was ready for it.

The majority of the behind the scenes footage takes a look at how Hamill trains. Instead of weightlifting, his trainer finds other methods such as swimming and battling the forces of nature as means to improve Hamill’s fighting game.

Watching Frank Mir and Roy Nelson joking with each other in the extra footage makes you wonder if they held back in their fight. While Mir did pound on Nelson for three straight rounds, Mir did not finish the fight giving credit to the toughness of Nelson. Nelson also joked around with Rampage, giving fans the impression that Nelson is a well-liked fighter all-around in the UFC locker room.

Brian Stann continued to climb the ranks of the UFC middleweight division with an impressive showing against returning to the UFC Jorge Santiago. While Stann has been criticized for not being a complete fighter, Stann showed himself more than capable to stand up and fight and even take it to the ground against a dangerous submission veteran. Stann was tentative in the first round, but in the second round he took full advantage of Santiago when Stann rocked him near the end of the second round.

Guaranteed on the next UFC greatest knockouts DVDs is the Superman punch Travis Browne delivered to Stefan Struve about four minutes into the first round. Struve, one of the largest athletes in all of the UFC, had his legs completely buckle. Struve’s head whipped back with his eyes shut as he gracefully fell to the ground in dramatic fashion. The knockout looked completely unexpected yet when it happened the Las Vegas crowd went crazy. If you love knockouts this is definitely a must see.

There are times when this UFC was extremely enjoyable and other times a bit disappointing. However, much like many UFCs that come out there are moments that you need to see at least once. The Miguel Torres-Demetrious Johnson fight is highly controversial when it comes to a decision and there is only one submission victory with Gleison Tibau with a rear naked choke on Rafaello Oliveira. Far from the greatest card, but a few highlights.

UFC 130: Rampage VS. Hamill

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Released on Aug. 2, 2011

Run time of 296 minutes

Click here to order the DVD

 

Prelims

Renan Barão vs. Cole Escovedo

Michael McDonald vs. Chris Cariaso

Gleison Tibau vs. Rafaello Oliveira

Kendall Grove vs. Tim Boetsch

Miguel Torres vs. Demetrious Johnson

Main

Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago

Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story

Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne

Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson

Quinton Rampage Jackson vs. Matt Hamill

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UFC 131: Dos Santos VS. Carwin DVD review

August 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Shane Carwin’s near year long return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship saw him leave the octagon a bloody mess after encountering the heavy hands of Junior Dos Santos at UFC: 131 in Vancouver, Canada.

The first round for Carwin was the complete opposite compared to his first round against Brock Lesnar. Dos Santos nailed some nasty ground and pound to close off the first round, so much so that Dos Santos looked to the official in amazement for not ending the fight right there. Carwin emerged with a crimson mask and looked like he was partially knocked out. Out of respect for Carwin’s ability to nail that one knockout punch, Dos Santos played it safe for the next two rounds as he punched and dodged to earn a title shot against UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

Carwin’s original opponent before replacing Lesnar, Jon Olav Einemo battled Dave Herman in the fight of the night. Einemo looked like he rocked Herman just at the end of the first round and was able to secure a possible knockout victory, but the round ended just as Herman went down. In the second round Einemo continued to beat down on Herman with some serious knee shots and charging punches, but miraculously Herman nailed a strong knee that brought Einemo down. Einemo recovered to deliver a wicked slugfest back and forth with Herman that Herman got the best of in his UFC debut. Easily one of the most exciting fights of the year in the UFC.

Kenny Florian came back from being down a round to win an unanimous decision victory against Diego Nunes. Florian was awarded a title shot against UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo thanks to his win. Florian made his comeback by nailing a vicious elbow to the top of the head of Nunes. With Nunes dazzled, Florian was able to takedown Nunes and punish him on the ground. Nunes did not pass out, but was still beaten into a pool of his own blood.

The butterflies that fighters have before going through the entrance curtain, Florian explaining his drop to the featherweight division, and post fight comments are the features for the behind the scenes footage. Dos Santos explains that he was a bit nervous since there was a lot on the line in his fight, but he feels that he proved that he is quicker and has better boxing skills.

UFC: 131 was not the best UFC show this year, but there were a few moments that will definitely make the best of 2011 highlights. Best for fans that enjoy particular fighters or were anticipating one of the fights on the card.

UFC 131: Dos Santos VS. Carwin

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Run time of 337 minutes

Released today

Click here to order the DVD

Prelims

Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins

Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa

Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young

Nick Ring vs. James Head

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio

Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman

Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards

Main

Donald Cerrone vs. Vagner Rocha

Jon Olav Einemo vs. Dave Herman

Demian Maia vs. Mark Muñoz

Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes

Junior dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin

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UFC 129: St-Pierre VS. Shields DVD review

July 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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In front of an Ultimate Fighting Championship record crowd of 55,000 in Toronto’s Roger Centre, Canada’s own Georges St-Pierre for the second straight fight left jabbed his way to successfully defend his welterweight championship at UFC 129.

GSP was able to score a few takedowns, but pretty much the whole fight was kept standing. GSP was a lot more cautious against Jake Shields than his fight at UFC: 124. GSP did score the more impressive strikes, however out of respect for Shields’ ability to defend on the ground GSP did not go for the finish.

Shockingly in the fourth round Shields left GSP a bloody mess. Shields nailed a mean right that had GSP telling his corner, “I can’t seez out of my left.” With only a round left, GSP swag wildly with his right and missed quite a lot. While GSP did not win every round, he did more than Shields to get his hand raised. Surprisingly, fans booed near the end of the fight.

In one of the special features on the DVD, Super 7: Q & A with all UFC Champions, Joe Rogan questions Anderson Silva about the talk of a potential super-fight against GSP. Silva admits that GSP along with B.J. Penn are the best in the world and fights against them are Dana White’s decision, “not mine.”

The behind-the-scenes extras show how UFC had to put together their biggest setup ever. Getting the venue ready in five days was quite tricky with about 1000 people working on the setup. GSP is shown arriving to the venue earlier in the day talking about how nervous he was but very honoured to be the main event of the biggest UFC show ever. There is no post-fight interviews with Shields or GSP, but there is footage of GSP’s trainer Firas Zahabi telling Shields he was the best challenge GSP ever had.

In what was deemed the Fight Of The Night, Mark Hominick was left bloody and a disgusting hematoma on his forehead after coming up short in his battle with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Hominick did give Aldo his greatest challenge to date, but in the end Aldo proved that he is not only deadly on the ground and with his kicks, but his fists are also equally strong.

In his last fight in mixed martial arts, UFC legend Randy Couture went down to a devastating jump head kick by Lyoto Machida early in the second round. Couture looked frustrated early in round one trying to figure out how to takedown Machida. A slight opening was all Machida needed to deliver the same kind of knockout Silva delivered at UFC: 126.

Despite what many fans have said about the main event outcome, UFC 129 features some fantastic back-and-forth grappling battles, bloody wars and impressive submissions. UFC gives fans so much more with the addition of French commentating of the entire event with Patrick Cote and Jean-Paul Chartrand, all the prelim fights, and a special look into Couture’s training for his final fight.

If you’re an MMA fan this DVD should be in your collection.

UFC 129: St-Pierre VS. Shields

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Runtime of 300 minutes

Released on Jul. 5, 2011

Click here to order the DVD

UFC 129 fight card–

Prelims-

Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza

John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson

Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen

Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia

Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts

Sean Pierson vs. Jake Ellenberger

Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald

Main show–

Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz

Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida

Featherweight Championship bout: José Aldo (c) vs. Mark Hominick

Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre (c) vs. Jake Shields

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UFC 125: Resolution DVD review

April 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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From the prelims all the way to the main show, UFC 125: Resolution delivered grueling third rounds, shocking submission victories, nasty TKOs and a thrilling main event that went the distance.

Gray Maynard looked to become UFC Lightweight champion early in the first round of his championship fight against Frankie Edgar. Edgar showed the heart of a true champion by surviving an amazing flurry by Maynard. Maynard nailed almost 100 punches which left Edgar with a bloody nose. Edgar was knocked down a number of times, but was always able to defend himself intelligently and did not allow Maynard to trap him in a choke or a lock.

However, the fight ended in a draw.

In the DVD extras Maynard says to his team, “I can’t believe I didn’t f##king win that fight!” Maynard did slow down after the first round and Edgar came back strong in the second. Edgar was not only more effective standing with his strikes, but Edgar was able to takedown Maynard. The championship rounds are the most debatable as Maynard looked to have stronger punches, but Edgar stopped any attempts Maynard made at takedown attempts. In the judges’ eyes, the onslaught Maynard did in the first round was not enough to win the title. Fight fans should watch this to see if the decision was just and to get an idea of how intriguing the rematch will be.

The semi-main event was a lot quicker, but it was exciting for the sheer power and strength of both Chris Leben and Brian Stann nailing each other until Leben shockingly went down. Leben walked right into a left jab, but although he fell, Leben kept getting up. It took Stann a bit of time, but eventually a well placed knee strike took Leben down again. Stann followed up with punches until the ref finally called for the fight to end.

Clay Guida’s tribute to The Big Lebowski, ”If you will, it is no dream, Dude.” Thiago Silva slapping and mocking Brandon Vera and the last UFC fights of Phil Baroni and Marcus Davis were more memorable moments from this stellar combat gala. The DVD edition is also a little more special thanks to a fighter’s profile on Edgar. Edgar’s wife, coaches, and friends help make this more than just a brief look on Edgar’s life story. Edgar having to battle his size issue, bumps in the road in his wrestling career, failing at making into the UFC his first time around, all are given a broader view thanks to Edgar’s support staff. You really get a sense that Edgar has had to battle for everything he has accomplished his whole life.

If you get one UFC fight event DVD this year this one should be it. UFC: 125 might not have the star power of other UFCs, but when it comes to heart pounding action and compelling fight stories, this one does not disappoint.

UFC 125: Resolution

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Releases on Apr. 12, 2011

$21.98

Click here to order the DVD

UFC: 125 Resolution fight card

Prelims

 Jacob Volkmann vs. Antonio McKee

Daniel Roberts vs. Greg Soto

Mike Brown vs. Diego Nunes

Phil Baroni vs. Brad Tavares

Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier

Marcus Davis vs. Jeremy Stephens

Main show

Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi

Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Brandon Vera vs. Thiago Silva

Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann

Lightweight Championship:

Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Gray Maynard

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Billy’s Bootcamp Cardio Sculpt DVD review

March 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Get ready for an intense near 50-minute explosive workout with American fitness trainer and martial artist Billy Blanks as he pushes you beyond your limits in his new Billy’s Bootcamp Cardio Sculpt DVD.

Right from the start Blanks gets your body working with a fast cardio warm-up that is followed by a quick stretch. The beginning will definitely get your heart rate up even if you have good cardio. Blanks constantly gets you in a knees bent position, making you work your gluts and quads followed by whatever Blanks targets. Boxers do similar warm-up drills such as the jabs and side-to-side movements.

Free weight exercises are the majority of this workout. Blanks suggests to those that do not have free weights to use water bottles or two cans of soup instead. While there is a decent amount of time toning your gluts and working out your core, by the end of the workout you will be feeling the burn in your upper body the most.

Blanks switches back and forth between controlled and cardio paces, which means it starts off with simple motions followed by multiple motions all in one set. An example of this is when Blanks tells you to just kick and then follows it up with a step and a kick.

For those not familiar with the techniques that Blanks uses, there is a short tutorial where Blanks slowly tells you how you should place yourself with your boxing stance, your knee bends, how you should give a kick, etc. While it is not the first option to select on the DVD, the tutorial is definitely a must see for beginners.

Like any workout, consult a physician before trying this as the intensity of this workout can hurt you more than help you if your body has not been exercising for a long period of time. Even if you have been exercising the speed of this workout might be difficult especially for those that have difficulty in throwing punches or kicks repeatedly. Start off at your pace to understand the regime and once you are fit and able perform to the standard Blanks has set then push yourself.

For those looking to get fit this summer Blanks offers a solid workout routine that will push even healthy and strong individuals. For some the workout may not feel like a complete body workout or focused enough on cardio fitness. Definition in the arms and shoulders may become quite apparently compare to abs or legs. Recommended if you want to work on your cardio and want veins showcased all over your arms.

Billy’s Bootcamp Cardio Sculpt

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

www.anchorbayent.com

Total runtime of 68 minutes

Released on Mar. 1, 2011

Click here to order the DVD

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UFC: Best of 2010 DVD & Blu-ray reviews

March 29, 2011 By 1 Comment
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The return and fall of Brock Lesnar as Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Heavyweight Champion, the near defeat of Anderson Silva against Chael Sonnen, and another dominate year of Georges St-Pierre were just a few amazing UFC highlights of 2010.

UFC: Best of 2010 presents a documentary style look at 2010 through the weight classes, standout fighters, and memorable UFC headlines. The merger of the sister company World Elite CageFighting, aka WEC, the arrival of UFC pay-per-view events to new markets and the acceptance of mixed martial arts in new areas like Toronto, you get a clear picture that the UFC is growing and will continue their rise as a mainstream sports company.

B.J. Penn’s inability to solve Frankie Edgar and the questions circulating around Penn’s training regime are given a positive spin thanks to Penn’s jump back to welterweight and quick knockout win of UFC Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes. Hughes is also given the spotlight due to the number of achievements in his career, records that are still not broken, and for his ability to still compete after a long UFC career.

Included in the 2010 year in review for the DVD edition is 13 full fights along with 10 full bonus fights. The difference in the blu-ray edition is that it has 38 full fights in total. GSP fans will want to see the blu-ray edition if they missed out on getting the UFC 124 DVD as GSP VS. Koscheck 2 is not featured on the DVD. Kimbo Slice fans also only get a chance to see the popular heavyweight on blu-ray. Both editions have Chuck Liddell’s final MMA bout against Rich Franklin.

2010 was one of the best years for UFC making their Best of 2010 DVD or blu-ray a great collector’s item. Also a great watch for fans that cannot get enough UFC and easily the best buy for fans that are new to the sport or missed out on a few UFC events. The best now, soon to be, and will be for years to come are well represented in this huge 2-disc set.

UFC: Best of 2010

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Releases today Mar. 29, 2011

Click here to order the blu-ray edition

Click here to order the DVD

UFC: Best of 2010 fight listing

Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn
Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua 2
Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans
Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones
Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Minotauro Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez

Bonus Disc 1:

Cole Miller vs. Dan Lauzon
Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham (blu-ray only)
Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe
Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway (blu-ray only)
Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick Story (blu-ray only)
Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira (blu-ray only)
Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle 2 (blu-ray only)
Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit
Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago (blu-ray only)
Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner
George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon
Matt Riddle vs. Sean Pierson (blu-ray only)
Jim Miller vs. Charles Olivera
Geroges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck 2 (blu-ray only)

Bonus Disc 2:

Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione (blu-ray only)
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Pat Barry (blu-ray only)
Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin
Brandan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer (blu-ray only)
Krysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar 2

Stefan Struve vs. Christian Morecraft (blu-ray only)
Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson (blu-ray only)
Randy Couture vs. James Toney
CB Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen (blu-ray only)
Phil Davis vs. Tom Boetsch (blu-ray only)

Filed Under: DVD, MMA, Reviews, UFC, WEC Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UFC 123: Rampage v. Machida DVD review

March 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Entertaining, controversial, and hopes for a future rematch all come to mind after witnessing Quinton Rampage Jackson battle Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida to a split-decision victory at UFC: 123 last November.

Jackson promised to knockout Machida, but the evasive style of Machida made it difficult for Jackson to nail a lot of his strikes. For two rounds Jackson clearly had the striking advantage and was able to takedown Machida for a brief moment. However, Machida came out strong in the third round and nailed Jackson with an impressive flurry. When Machida took down Jackson, Ryan Bader in his DVD exclusive commentary believes Jackson was holding on by laying on the floor. Like the many watching at home, Bader reacted in astonishment when Machida escaped an attempted powerbomb slam by Jackson. Jackson admits that Machida “gave me a whooping,” but due to Rampage’s early advantage the judges gave him the decision victory.

The co-main event saw the rubber bout between two Ultimate Fighting Championship legends B.J. Penn and Matt Hughes. With both fighters scoring victories over each other years before, this fight was to help elevate one of them back on track for a championship run. Penn, after losing his last two fights badly needed a victory as many questioned if Penn was finally slowing down.

Penn came out with fire in his eyes and went after Hughes early. In mere seconds Penn nailed Hughes hard with a right punch that left Hughes seeing stars and defeated. Kenny Florian provides the bonus commentary on the DVD and saw the anger in Penn’s eyes immediately. Florian gives a bit of insight into Penn from Florian’s past encounter with Penn and how Penn has ran out of the cage right after the fight before.

Top to bottom UFC: 123 featured quality MMA action. George Sotiropoulos and Joe Lauzon started off the event with Lauzon coming off strong until Sotiropoulos pummeled Lauzon to an eventual submission victory. The extras in the DVD included a look at how important the individuals behind a fighter’s training camp are. From nutritionist to sparring partners, the fighters and their teams explain how a team helps make a fighter even more dangerous inside the octagon.

UFC: 123 Rampage v. Machida

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Released on Feb. 1, 2011

$21.98

Click here to order the DVD

UFC 123 Fight card

Prelims

Tyson Griffin vs. Nik Lentz

Paul Kelly vs. T.J. O’Brien

Mike Lullo vs. Edson Barboza

Karo Parisyan vs. Dennis Hallman

Aaron Simpson vs. Mark Muñoz

Matt Brown vs. Brian Foster

Main

George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon

Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch  

Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcão  

Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn

Quinton Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida

Filed Under: DVD, MMA, Reviews, UFC Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

UFC 122: Marquardt v. Okami DVD review

February 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Finishing strong in the final round proved to not only help Yushin Okami win a tight decision victory over Nate Marquardt but for other fighters as well on the UFC 122 fight card in Germany.

Okami and Marquardt went into their encounter seeking a title shot at the middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Marquardt stunned Okami with impactful takedowns, but was not able to score considerable damage on Okami. For most of the fight, Okami controlled the cage as he pinned Marquardt to it on several occasions.

Okami also controlled the striking aspect of the fight. Marquardt looked like he had timing issues as he kept trying to nail that one big fatal punch. While Marquardt did nail Okami right on the chin with Okami charging with a knee, Okami showed his toughness and did not let it faze him at all. Okami left Marquardt bruised and bloody following the strikes that he landed. Marquardt did make another great takedown late in the third round, but Okami got right back up. Judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27 in favour of Okami.

In the behind the scenes extras, Marquardt is shown with his team before the fight talking about what he eats and how he relaxes before his fight. While walking back to the locker room following his loss, Marquardt was devastated as he thought he did enough to win. His team told him that although he fought hard he fought Okami’s type of fight instead of his own.

Nick Osipczak slowing down in the third round cost him a split decision loss to Duane Ludwig in welterweight action. Osipczak looked like he had the fight won taking down Ludwig, but he could not finish him. By the third round Ludwig was able to nail mean punches and knee shots while Osipczak did his best to hang on the whole third round. Krzysztof Soszynski had a more even fight against Goran Reljic, as he had to wear down Reljic until the third round to have a clear advantage in the fight. Judges scored the fight 30-27 across the board for Sozynski.

In a special bonus feature added to the DVD, there is a Q & A session with UFC president Dana White and announcer Joe Rogan. White and Rogan discussed topics such as the chances of Jon Daily ever coming back to the UFC, their thoughts on the Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck fight before it went down, and the chances of Joe Rogan ever stepping foot inside a UFC octagon. One highlight included Rogan criticizing a Brock Lesnar fan saying Cain Velasquez winning was a fluke, “that’s a hell of a fucking fluke,” said Rogan. Other highlights saw White admitting the greatest of Anderson Silva as a fighter, and Rogan inviting an individual to come up on stage and do the ‘Buffer 360.’

For fans that have already seen the event on Spike TV, the Q & A and behind the scenes extras are nice additions. For fans that missed the prelims, you missed the best fight when Pascal Krauss took on Mark Scanlon in welterweight action. All the prelims as well as the weigh-ins are shown. Far from a star-studded UFC event, but solid mixed martial arts from top to bottom.

UFC 122: Marquardt v. Okami

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Released on Jan. 18, 2011

Run time of 246 minutes

21.98

Click here to order the DVD

UFC 122 fight card

Prelims

  • Kris McCray vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha
  • Seth Petruzelli vs. Karlos Vemola
  • Kyle Noke vs. Rob Kimmons
  • Pascal Krauss vs. Mark Scanlon
  • Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Alexandre Ferreira

Main

  • Duane Ludwig vs. Nick Osipczak
  • Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic
  • Amir Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta
  • Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner
  • Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami
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