[Archived Review] PRIDE 33 'The Second Coming' DVD

PRIDE 33 'The Second Coming'
By Angelina Licchelli


Price - £8.99 (Correct as of July 1st 2010)
Release Date – October 20th 2008
Available from - www.silvervision.co.uk / www.fightdvd.co.uk

NOTE - This review contains spoilers/results of matches.
NOTE - Due to a trchnical issue with the original archive of this review, the main event of this DVD is not included here. We'll try to add that at a later date.

Fight Card:
PRIDE Middleweight Championship Fight
Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson

Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz

Mauricio Rua vs. Alistair Overeem

Sergei Kharitonov vs. Michael Russow

Hayato Sakurai vs. Mac Danzig

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Travis Wiuff vs. James Lee

Frank Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki

Joachim Hansen vs. Jason Ireland


DVD Special Features:

Include weigh-ins, pre and post fight press conferences and fighter interviews.

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“Pride 33: The Second Coming” live from Las Vegas, is only the second Pride Main Event to be held outside of Japan. Featuring a headline fight for the Middleweight Title between Wanderlei Silva and challenger, Dan Henderson. Henderson, already the Welterweight Champion, looks to make history as the first Mixed Martial Artist to simultaneously hold a championship in two different weight classes in a major organisation.

The merits and drama of the Diaz/Gomi fight eclipses the post match controversy, as Pride Lightweight Champion and firm fan favourite Takanori Gomo faces Nick Diaz in a non-title fight.


Joachim Hansen vs. Jason Ireland

Ireland takes Hansen down earlier, but after recovery and a time-out to fix Hansen’s glove a more even lock up occurs. Joachim takes control and takes him down into a position of back control. After a type of body triangle, Ireland is up, but the hold has fatigued him and he is soon back into that same position. Ireland manages to regain his vertical stance and attacks a fallen Hansen in the closing seconds of the first round. The bell sees out this action.

Hansen comes out with some vicious leg strikes to the head of Ireland, but is a victim of the takedown. Quickly up Hansen pummels his opponent with knee strikes to the head, Ireland is down and Joachim is in control again. Hansen retains this powerful domination throughout the round. The bell saves a pounded upon Jason Ireland in the dying seconds of the second round.

In the third round Joachim’s knees cause more problems for Jason Ireland, After he seems to take control he ends up in a triangleposition into a brutal armbar, from which Jason Ireland verbally submits.

Winner by Armbar Submission – Joachim Hansen


Frank Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki

We start with an even lock-up until Trigg succeeds in a takedown, from this position Kazuo seems very comfortable and manages to hold Trigg in place with neither man getting control. This changes as Frank gains back control and hold the Japanese fighter in a body triangle. Trigg maintains control but no progression is made within the hold. It seems Trigg’s plan is to wear down and fatigue Misaki. This hold is maintained to round’s end.

Round two brings us another takedown by the American but Misaki stays calm and stops Trigg from turning him for a back control, and again from maintaining back control by spinning back over quickly. Back on their feet they exchange punches and knees the American is swayed so Frank takes him to the mat again in the last minute of the round. In the third Kazuo keeps it on their feet but not for long, back down with Trigg once again the aggressor, he has side control and Misaki is in danger of a submission hold, although he flips onto his back before this can become reality.

Back control now but Kazuo blocks an attemted Rear-Naked Choke and regains verticality. A knee shot to Frank Trigg gives him the opportunity he needs to take the Japanese fighter back to the floor. As we enter the last twenty seconds of the fight we seem to be at a standstill until the bell. Confident Trigg celebrates prematurely, but it is merely a technicality at this point.

Winner by Unanimous Decision – Frank Trigg


Travis Wiuff vs. James Lee

WOW! It’s over. 39 seconds after Lee First aggressively takes down his opponent he ends him with a Guillotine.

Winner by Tap-Out – James Lee


Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Another quickie here. The dangerous Sokoudjou kicks the inner thigh and neck of the Brazilian taking him down with thunderous left hands and knocking him out.

Winner by Knockout – Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou[u]


Hayato Sakurai vs. Mac Danzig

Sakurai comes out all guns blazing and delivers a flurry of head blows, rocking him in the ropes. Back in the centre of the ring they exchange shots but the Japanese fighter is in control, connecting with almost every leg kick. An unexpected takedown into an armbar by Danzig, Sakurai gets back on top and after the referee transfers the action from under the ropes into the middle of the ring, it is all Hayato.

An awesome hiptoss by Sakurai sees him back in control, but the clock runs out for this round. We begin the next round with a takedown by the Japanese fighter, Danzig attempts to flip him over for control, but fails. Back on their feet, Sakurai throws leg and body strikes hitting everything, Danzig returns the blows but isn’t connecting.

Sakurai seems very relaxed and the American seems flustered, more shots by Hayato practically floor Mac but he retains his stance and they continue trading shots as we enter the final minute. But the very second we eneter that last minute Sakurai drops him with a strong right hand strike and ends the contest.

Winner by Knockout – Hayato Sakurai


Sergei Kharitonov vs. Michael Russow

Even tie up turns into the big Russian delivering some body shots. Russow gains control and begins to strike at the head of Sergei. It flips over and the Russian is back on top. Control switches again and from the bottom guard Kharitonov puts on an Arm-Bar and defeats him at 3:46 into the first round. Although Russow clearly taps, he contests it after the bell. Very poor sportsmanship by the American Fighter here.

Winner by Armbar Submission – Sergei Kharitonov


Mauricio Rua vs. Alistair Overeem

In a rematch from PRIDE Final Conflict 2005, the first round begins in exciting fashion with athletic leg strikes from both men. Overeem trips Rua but sensibly does not follow him to the floor, Overeem is reliant on his standing offense. Rua clinches him to attempt a takedown and succeeds, Alistair’s strength keeps him from becoming a victim to a submission move. Rua is on top now and although he receives a shot to the head, he mounts the fallen Overeem and KO’s him with over-arm rights at 3:37 into the first round.

Winner by Knockout – Mauricio Rua


Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi

Gomi takes him down immediately and pounds him incessantly. He stays on Diaz until the referee moves the action back to the centre of the mat. Gomi hits him and wobbles his opponent knocking him to the floor. Gomi gains control andis split by the ref. A more even exchange of punches sees Diaz beginning to turn the tables, Gomi now wobbling in the ropes, but comes back out with shots of his own. Although even again, Gomi is taking an inordinate amount of head shots. The American is split open above his eye as the round ends.

Here in the second round they begin the striking again, although Diaz seems to be winning the ‘boxing’ match, Gomi badly opens up Nick’s other eye, whilst Gomi had him in a headlock a gruesome amount of blood was spilling down the Japanese fighters arm and leg from Diaz’s head. Diaz gets him in a textbook GoGoPlata for the win. Diaz looks like he’s fallen off a roof onto his face. Nasty double black eyes for Nick Diaz.

Winner by Gogoplata Submission – Nick Diaz

[Archived Review] UFC 81 - 'Breaking Point' DVD

UFC 81 'Breaking Point' DVD Review
By Angelina Licchelli

NOTE - This DVD contains spoilers/results of matches.



Available from - www.silvervision.co.uk / www.fightdvd.co.uk
Price - £8.99 (Price correct as of July 1st 2010)

Match Listing
Interim Heavyweight Championship Match
Tim Sylvia vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar

Rob Yundt vs. Ricardo Almeida

Nate Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn

Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau

Chris Lytle vs. Kyle Bradley

Marvin Eastman vs. Terry Martin

Keita Nakamura vs. Rob Emerson

David Heath vs. Tim Boetsch


DVD Extras:

UFC 81: Behind the Scenes





I'll start off with the bonus feature. A very interesting and lengthy 'Behind the Scenes' look into UFC. I would recommend watching this at the end of the show if you do not want to know the outcome of the matches as it shows the aftermath of the Mir/Lesnar fight.

This extra contains Interviews with the main event players of this DVD and trainers, as well as showing you some of the intense training and relaxation that the fighters go through in preperation of an event. This is a nice featurette as it helps humanise these often quite intimidating and larger than life figures. The nervousness of Brock Lesnar hours before his debut in the MMA world is surreal considering the massive audiences he has performed in front of as a pro wrestler, just goes to show how daunting the anticipation of entering the octagon can be.

There are also glimpses of the THQ UFC game, in an unashamed plug . But the full body scanning for the game and the preview featuring Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson shows how impressive the game is shaping up to be. Plus the sight of the fighters giggling at the sight of a rendered fighter's thingy is stupidly funny.

The Press Conference for the event is also featured in part as are warm-ups for the show. So, it's a 30 minute feature which succeeds in showing the personalities of the UFC guys as well as the preperations and PR that goes into an event with candid interviews and even a plug for the game. A very worthy and fascinating Extra. Thumbs up.
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The show begins in typical fashion with interviews and a fired-up crowd. We are then treated to a video package showing the history between the contestents of the first match. So lets get to it:

Keita Nakamura vs. Rob Emerson

Coming off the exciting 'no-contest', this rematch begins with the loss off Nakamura's mouthguard and an impromptu time out. After this blip they get to it with a feeling out process which features some strong and calculated leg strikes by Emerson. He then moves to punches which Nakamura finds difficulty in matching, Emerson's counterstrikes are all on target and although the Japanese fighter is placing well thought out jabs, he is outclassed by his opponent. However, this changes quickly when Nakamura capitilises by kneeing Emerson in the face and then mounting the American. Back on their feet he then proceeds to trip Emerson when the bell saves him.

Emerson is bleeding from the nose but starts the next round in good shape, both men utilize the same technique as the first round. More leg strikes on Nakamura but the trading of jabs and head strikes makes for an even second round. Nakamura succeeds in another takedown but they are quickly back up, by round-end the young Japanese fighter is busted open due to an elbow. Very even round.

The round begins in similar fashion to the previous two. Emerson trips but recovers before he can be mounted, Emerson steps it up for the final minute but Nakamura also picks up pace and succeeds in a takedown, the match ends with judges decision, with Emerson still on the ground.

Winner by Split-Decision - Rob Emerson


Marvin Eastman vs. Terry Martin

Video package starts this match. Terry Martin takes down his opponent in the opening seconds. Whilst in a clinch Martin hits some nasty knee strikes. After a minute locked-up the referee seperates them, Eastman then replies with some headstrikes but is then victim to another clinch which leads to more strikes. The Referee again splits them. Out of the Clinch, Eastman is the aggressor, with his vicious striking he is a sure threat. Martin tries to suppress him with a clinch at every turn but by round end Eastman is in control with a series of nice elbow shots.

Round two starts with both men throwing hard punches. Eastman is again stopped with a clinch, but hits a few knee strikes in response. Again the Referee splits up the fighters and again Martin clinches the bigger man. The round ends with the clinch to which Marvin Eastman seems frustrated.

Round three starts with nice punches and Eastman takes down his opponent. Eastman has a great back position but lets go of Martin, instead preferring to use his Muay Thai skills by landing leg strikes to the head. This continues into another clinch, which is soon broken up and Martin executes a takedown which is muscled out of in quick time. The bell ends the bout to judges decision.

Winner by Unanimous Decision - Marvin Eastman


David Heath vs. Tim Boetsch

Tim Boetsch makes his debut replacing an injured fighter. Tentative start has Boetsch in the driving seat with some pretty leg strikes and right hands. His body strikes cause instantaneous welting to David Heath, Boetsch's methodical and unorthodox style is causing problems for the more experienced Heath. His dodging of offense and flurry of knees take down Heath quickly. Wrestler, Boetsch out-strikes the Striker making for a very decisive debut.

Winner by TKO in Round 1 - Tim Boetsch


Chris Lytle vs. Kyle Bradley

The newcomer Bradley takes on the experienced Lytle but is very quickly outclassed. It's over in seconds. The overwhelmed Kyle Bradley does not realised the match ended and mistakes the referee for his opponent. Blink and you'll miss it.

Winner by Knockout in Round 1 - Chris Lytle


Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau

Exciting start from the youngsters with legstrikes by the thick-legged Griffin. The taller Tibau uses punches to counter. They enter into a clinch which Tyson tries to muscle out of resulting in an unsuccessful takedown by the Brazillian. They enter a punching contest which Griffin wins, forcing Gleison to take him down. The round ends with Tibau on top of Griffin in a takedown, but this was an even contest thusfar.

Round Two - another quick, fist-lead start into a clinch, this time initiated by the American. Seperating quickly the enter into another striking contest. Gleison grounds Tyson into side control position, but Griffin wrestled out. Another strike contest starts this time more tentatively, Gleison is bleeding from the nose now, Griffin is connecting with more of his shots than his opponent, he again utilises his strong lower limbs with stiff, quick leg strikes. Tibau takes him down but he wriggles free. Round ends with both men at a vertical stance.

The last Round begins with a feeling out process with a head shot from the Brazillian and a leg strike from Griffin. Gleison soon takes him down and gains a lot of control. He seems to have figured out how to keep hold of the slithery Tyson Griffin. The teflon-covered Tyson spins out and attempts another strike contest. Another takedown means another wriggle free and the pace is slowed as both men try to work out a new strategy. Griffin goes for a clinch which results in both men finding difficulty acquiring the upper hand. After freeing themselves they wait out the clock and after a jog around the ring by the energetic American we go to the judges decision.

Winner by Unanimous Decision - Tyson Griffin


Rob Yundt vs. Ricardo Almeida

Almeida returns to UFC for the first time since 2002 to face the debuting wrestler Rob Yundt in this Middleweight contest. After a touching of the gloves, Yundt starts out striking, but is taken down quickly by the returning Almeida, he transitions into a guillotine choke and ends it quickly after just over one minute.

Winner by Tap-Out - Ricardo Almeida


Nate Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn

They lock up in the centre and after a jockeying for position Marquardt takes him down. Hard strikes to Horn's head as he unsuccessfully attempts to free himself lead to more strikes before the referee splits them.

Jeremy Horn attmepts a takedown but it is countered and he himself ends up on his back. He wrestles to his feet but an unsuccessful trip of Marquardt means that Nate is soon back on top. His hard kicks only serve to cause more of a mauling by Marquardt but he uses this to put on a Gogoplata shoulder submission. Round ends with Nate still locked in the hold.

A mistake early on in the second round lands Marquardt on his back, Horn capatalises by mounting his fallen opponent. Nate's eye is split open and as they get to their feet Nate Marquardt puts on a Standing Guillotine for the victory.

Winner by Tap-Out - Nate Marquardt

Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar

A hot video package hypes up this Heavyweight Bout. Lesnars debut starts out well with a quick takedown and massive strikes to the head. A time out is called and Lesnar is given a one point penalty for the illegal strike. He mauls Mir again immediately and continues punching. A rookie mistake leads to Mir's beautiful Knee Lock to end the bout. Unlucky for Brock as he was the aggressor before this hold. Strong Debut despite the quick loss.

Winner by Tap-Out - Frank Mir

Interim Heavyweight Championship Match
Tim Sylvia vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Quick strikes by Silvia early on lead to a grounding in which he is trapped in a lock which he escapes. Silvia gets him down with brutal strikes to the head, whilst still in a body scissors, Nogueira is bleeding from his right eye now, and they are back on the ground. Tim frees himself and Nogueira attempts another takedown but is shaken off with knees which do not connect. With seconds left in the first round, Nogueira takes Silvia down, he's saved by the bell.

Round two starts with some striking, Nogueira is struggling with the 3" reach advantage of the towering Tim Silvia. The round continues with this boxing-like contest which sees us to the bell just as Nogueira finds a connection with his shots.

Round three of this five round contest begins as the last round ended, a leg kick by the Brazillian is returned by a headstrike by Silvia. Nogueira gets the big man down in hopes of a submission. He has him on his back and then up and into a guillotine choke to win the fight and become the Interim Heavyweight Champion.

Winner by Tap-Out - Minotauro Nogueira

Overall:
Another top class release from UFC. The event is as exciting as it is brutal and with a good mix of styles and debuts this is a great DVD to own. Technically it is a superior release in both picture and audio, with a crisp, clear video and the always excellent commentary team both loud and clear, aesthetically the menues and navigation are pleasing and the bonus feature is very worthwhile. Fantastic event given a great package and at a reasonable price. Recommended.

UFC 2010 Review.

UFC 2010.
By Martyn Licchelli


For years now, THQ and Yukes have released the annual smackdown vs RAW game. Each year a new game would come along, with an extra mode, a couple of different characters, and it took a long time before we finally got something which changed the main modes, that being the Road to Wrestlemania storylines, and the long awaited Create a Finisher. It took a long time to get there though, and for a few years Smackdown vs RAW was happy to just sit as the best wrestling game each year simply because no others were around.


So maybe we should be thankful that this year EA sports will be releasing their own MMA game, as it has forced THQ and Yukes to put a lot of work into the latest Undisputed game. Of course credit has to be given where it is due, the guys and girls who have worked on this game have done a great job and made sure that it looks and plays well, and made improvements in almost every single aspect. It would be unfair to discredit them and claim they only did it out of fear of competition and not desire to just make the best game they could, but I'm sure EA's MMA played a role.

So what's different this year then? Like I said just a moment again, improvements have been made to nearly everything. The only thing that remains the same really, is the graphics, which are still really good, and for the most part, provide great representations of the fighters, referees, and other UFC employees. There's a couple of uglies here and there, but they're limited to bit parts and don't really detract in any way. Despite the lack of improvement in the graphics though, the game does still look better thanks to the majority of animations being completely redone.

On the whole, once the action begins, the game moves a lot smoother. Transitions into submissions, and the new feature that allows you to transition from one submissions straight into another, are all animated really well and it adds a lot to the realism of the game. My only real concern with animations, is lack of limb damage being recognised. This really took me out of the game last year, and this year it's again a bit of a problem. If I throw 20 punches, my fighter will drop his arms and look tired. But if i'm kicked in the legs a thousand times, I'll still walk around like everything is fine, and throw leg kicks like no tomorrow. It's something EA's MMA has implemented in to their game, and I hope it's in UFC 2011 next year, as it's quite disheartening to work on someones legs all fight, and then not be able to win with any form of leg submission, but your first kimura has them tapping in seconds.

For some reason though, whilst this issue took me out of last years game, this year it's not so bad. I don't know why though, but I think it may well be due to the new fighting system. It's not incredibly different, you still do everything in the usual way. Face buttons are kicks and punches, shoulder buttons are modifiers, and right stick is grappling. The fundamentals are the same, but each fighter is now a lot more individual than last year. In 2009, you selected two bases for your characters. One stirking, and one grappling. If you had someone who had Kick boxing, and someone else who had kick boxing too... they're have the exact same move set for strikes. This is massively different this year, as well as adding new forms of martial arts like Sambo to the equation, you're not limited to two styles any more. Instead you select one type of base, and then throughout your career you attend camps, all based on the real MMA camps used by UFC fighters, and pick and choose which moves you want to learn.

What you're left with when you've finished levelling your character up, is a fighter who instead of having left superman punch, right superman punch, left head kick, and right head kick fixed as his modifiers. You can now have a dodging left hook, a Chuck Liddel overhand right, Left axe kick, and a flying knee. Giving your fighter an offence that is almost guaranteed to be unique, and it also means that every real fighter in the game is able to be recreated more accurately as some of the big names, like Liddel, BJ and St Pierre have moves that are solely used by them making them feel that little closer to the real thing.

The other main change in the fighting, is the use of the cage. You can pin your opponents against it, use it for leverage, spin off it, kick off it when on the ground to reverse position. It's very well implemented, and really adds to the game. You can also have matches ended by doctors if a cut is too bad. I beat many people to a pulp and the doctor showed up a lot, but only once did he stop it. I'm glad that it happens sparingly, because it could well have ruined a good fight.

Sadly, one thing still plagues me no matter how much I train in this years game or last years. I cant do submissions to save my life. In the 300+ fights I did before reviewing this game, I got KO of the night no less than 150 times, not once did I get submission of the night, cause I only ever made one person tap and that, I'm sure, was the game feeling sorry for me. I beat my opponents til they look like a beef burger patty, lowered their stamina and everything. But I can just never do it. I'm sure however that this is less a problem with the game, and more me being inept. Still, it would be nice if the tutorial explained submissions a little better than 'rotate the stick' because I do that relentlessly and get nothing. Slow. Fast. Medium pace. No matter what, they kick out and I'm left on the defensive. Thank god I trained my Liddel over hand right or i'd never win.

One of the other improvements this year, is the career mode. Last year was very basic, but this year they've added much more. It actually plays a little like a Road to Wrestlemania from the Smackdown series. You give your fighter a voice, and he does interviews and talks to his trainer. The voices aren't great though. When you make the main event of a Fight Night card, or the main card of any UFC show the game gives you a hype video which features your opponent talking about their strategy, and your guy doing it too. It's really cool, and a nice feature that i've wanted in a video game since they incorporated it in Smackdown 2, and then removed it never to be seen again.

The only problem is, I gave my guy voice #4 which is meant to be british I think, and my god did it irritate me to hear him say “At the end of the day, you got to respect my powahhhh... cause if you don't i'll knock you oughtttt” In the doziest slurred voice ever. This wouldn't be much of an issue, if I didn't hear it all the time. You do say different things for different matches, but that one line was repeated in 25% of my fights and it made me want to knock my character out.

It's also irritating when you are interviewed post fight by Joe Rogan. It's a nice feature, that lets you respond to questions in 4 different ways which will earn you respect, lose you respect, as well as earn and lose credibility, fans and sponsors. But once you make the main card of the UFC shows, the interview is after EVERY fight and it gets a bit repetitive. You can skip the talking, but you still have to wait for it to load and show it. It would be nice if an option was put in to do an interview, or skip it.

Other than these new additions though, career mode is largely unchanged despite it's new look. Training requires slightly more micro management, but it is far easier to make the fighter you want. There was just one thing that annoyed me though, I went through my career, won the middle weight title, defended it, moves up to light heavyweight, won that title and defended and I was only in year 7 of my career. I was inducted in to the hall of fame in year 9 I think and had a champ vs champ match. I'd done everything, but was unable to retire. I had to go til year 12 had ended. I may have missed it, but I saw no option to retire, which meant that for my trophy or achievement collection on the PS3 or Xbox respectively I had to go through 6-8 more fights with no real purpose.

Still it gave me chance to practice submissions. I subsequently lost all 8 matches, I should have been fired.

Other modes included in this years game are tournament mode, which does exactly what it says on the tin allowing people to set up tournaments for whatever title they want. Create a card allows you to make your own event, much like Create a PPV from Smackdown. Online fighting returns from last year, but this year is improved slightly as you can now have a camp, which essentially is an online 'clan'. I noticed no benefit from being in a camp, but it was better sparring against friends instead of random fighters.

I did suffer a lot of lag on the PS3 online game, but I'm hoping this was just poor connection between myself and the americans I was facing. I believe that after fridays release in the UK, I'll be able to get much more stable matches.

The last mode that returns is the Ultimate Fights mode. This time there are 20 matches split across 4 catergories. Each match has 3 sets of goals for each fighter to achieve, meaning that I think this mode is probably the mode that will keep my attention longest. Each fight comes with a hype video, with all the talking from the build up included, and if you achieve your goals, you're also treated to highlights of the real match and points to buy extra gear for Created fighters, and sponsors too. As much as everything has changed, I believe this is my favourite improvement. For some reason, I dont feel inclined to go through career mode more than once, but i'm going back to Ultimate Fights time and time again, trying to get every last goal unlocked.

The one problem with UFC really, in taking this on as a yearly game, is that there's not much you can add. In their WWE series of games THQ and Yukes are able to add new match types, as well as new wrestlers. With the hefty roster included in this years UFC, and the fact that there's only ever one sort of match in UFC, there's not much they can add in adition, which could potentially mean that UFC 2011 ends up being a very small improvement that's not worth the money. 2010 however has enough new things, enough changes to gameplay, and enough of a roster improvement that it feels like I got my value for money.

The last thing to cover, I guess, is the comparison between PS3 and Xbox 360. The PS3 wins outright in my opinion, as you get 5 extra Ultimate Fights, those being UFN 18 -Carlos Condit vs Martin Kampmann, UFC 102 – Nate Marquardt vs Demian Maia, UFC 60 – Hughes vs Gracie, UFC 66 Keith Jardine vs Forrest Griffin, and UFC 66 Martin Kampman vs Drew McFedries. Being as how I already stated that this was my favourite mode, its not surprising this makes me prefer the PS3 version. But there is more, as the PS3 also gets 3 bonus fighters Royce Gracie, Jens Pulver and Dan Severn, and to round it off the PS3 also comes with 5 full matches for you to watch. Including Brock Lesnars win over Frank Mir to become the Heavywieght champion, with post fight promo included.

Whilst the Xbox 360 has no extras included, it should be noted that it does like a little bit smoother on the Xbox, with no jagged lines, and the control pad seems to suit this game better than the PS3 one. But the PS3 extras win out over this in my opinion.

So on to the rating then, UFC 2010 is a good game. It's easy to recommend to fighting game fans, and UFC fans, but it does still have it's niggles. The right stick based movement on the ground for transitions works fine, but the rotating of the stick for submissions can be awkward and seems too hit and miss. Some body damage would be nice, and maybe a reduction of Flash KO's, which seemed to come in 85% of my fights. But apart from these small issues, I really enjoyed my time in the Octagon.

Oh, and Shaquille O'neal is a bonus character, so this game was always going to be good.

8/10

A quick hello

Just a quick hello here from Martyn, over the coming weeks this blog should be getting a lot busier with content (hopefully) being added each and every week with reviews of everything from shows, to events, to DVD's, books and video games.

At some point, previous reviews will be added here. But for now, this will be all new content to help us keep a record of everything, and in a tidier place than the forums or my personal facebook.

I've talked enough. I'm off to record this weeks show, before we come back to live shows next week. Good times.

Welcome

Welcome to the official blog of The Dropkick Radio Wrestling Show. Hosted by Jeremy Graves & Martyn Licchelli.

In this blog you'll find not only comments on wrestling, but also reviews of DVDs, video games and much more in the coming weeks and months.