Commentators Mauro Ranallo and Bas Rutten open the DVD to talk up the evening’s contests. As they discuss Mirko Cro Cop v Josh Barnett and Ken Shamrock v Kazushi Sakuraba I’m already excited about watching this event. On top of that they mention that Quentin Jackson is in action and my anticipation levels are increased further.

After an opening contest that turned out to be a farce, Murilo Ninja took on Murad Chunkiaev in the second bout of the night. Chunkiaev surprised Ninja once or twice in his Pride debut but Ninja forced a tap out with a heel lock after a few minutes.

Huge Brit James Thompson, standing at 6 feet 5 inches, was up next against Alexandru Lungo, who weighed in at 368lbs - this was certainly a Heavyweight contest. Despite an early advantage for Lungo when he took Thompson down with a right hand, Thompson came back and pummelled his opponent in the corner until the referee called for the finish.

Next up was one of my favourite MMA stars, Quentin Jackson, taking on Hirotaka Yokoi. The first few minutes were a tactical ground display with neither man seemingly taking control. Suddenly, Jackson leveraged himself into a striking position and rained fists in on Yokoi’s head until the referee stopped the fight.

The next two fights went the distance and were decent but unspectacular bouts.

I had eagerly anticipated the next bout since getting my hands on the DVD - Ken Shamrock v Kazushi Sakuraba - what a disappointment! The pair felt each other out for a couple of minutes then Sakuraba caught Shamrock with a straight left hand and Shamrock fell into the ropes in the corner. The referee instantly stopped the fight and Shamrock jumped up and protested. Shamrock couldn’t believe the fight was stopped…neither could I as he seemed OK. Shamrock, interviewed after the fight, stated that Sakuraba didn’t finish him and the stoppage was uncalled for.

The rematch between Josh Barnett and Mirko Cro Cop followed the controversial Shamrock stoppage. I recalled Barnett’s Pride debut when he had control of Cro Cop in the opening minute but his shoulder popped and he had to tap out. Cro Cop was going into this fight on the back of a defeat at the hands of Pride Heavyweight Champion, Fedor Emelianenko. The opening round provided some exciting action but the pace slowed down in the second round. The third round started well as Cro Cop took the fight to Barnett with a flurry of strikes but the pace slowed down once again as the outcome was presented to the judges to decide.

Summary: the event was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Shamrock stoppage. After a farcial opening contest there were three short but entertaining bouts. The two fights that followed went the distance and were solid bouts but didn’t stand out. The main event, following the Shamrock debacle, started well in the opening round and had good moments in the third round but didn’t provide the decisive finish I, or many fans I assume, would have liked to see. Ending this review on a positive note, there’s three and a half hours worth of footage plus a number of, albeit short, special features for less than a tenner!