UFC 70 – DVD review…
By Gary Graham  

Live from the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, this event marks the long awaited return of the UFC to the UK - the first live UFC event held on this side of the Atlantic since UFC 38 in 2002. The fans patience has been rewarded with an impressive fight card booked including the UFC debuts Fabricio Werdum and of Mirko “Cro Cop”.  

Werdum, one of Cro Cop’s former coaches, faces former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at the beginning of his comeback trail. Both will be keen to assert their authority in the Octagon early with some serious grappling action sure to ensue.  The main event sees the night’s second debutant, Mirko “Cro Cop”, take on Gabriel Gonzaga to determine who gets to challenge Randy Couture at UFC 74 for the heavyweight title. Gonzaga, the black belt Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist, has it all to do if he’s going to overcome the experience of Cro Cop, known for his outstanding high kicks. The only thing anyone can predict with any certainty is that this bout has all the hallmarks of a classic in the making.  Most keenly anticipated however is the “home-town” appearance of the UK’s own Michael “The Count” Bisping, facing Australian Elvis Sinosic. Coming off the back of his convincing win over Eric Schafer, can Bisping keep the momentum going and live up to the hype? The pressure is on as the local hero prepares to go up against the experienced and buoyant Sinosic in a stand-up versus submission showdown.  

 UFC 70: Nations Collide features the following bouts:

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum 

Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic 

Lyoto Machida vs. David Heath 

Cheick Kongo vs. Assuerio Silva 

Terry Etim vs. Matt Grice 

Junior Assuncao vs. David Lee 

Alessio Sakara vs. Victor Valimaki J

 ess Liaudin vs. Dennis Siver Paul

Taylor vs. Edilberto de Oliveira 

Special FeaturesBehind the scenes: Bisping vs Sinosic Review:To be honest looking at the card it did not look as loaded as some of the US UFC cards, but this tends to be the case when the UFC comes to UK. A sell out crowd packed in to the MEN (Manchester Evening News) Arena, to see this the UFC’s first time in Manchester, England! 

I won’t review every match on the card, as it takes away the enjoyment of the DVD, the match I will review is the one all us UK UFC fans were looking forward to…

Hometown boy Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping and winner of the Ultimate Fighter 2003, was aiming to destroy the hard hitting fighter of Elvis Sinosic.  Many pundits pre fight were saying this was an obvious win for Bisping and that the UFC wanted him to have a home town win so picked a weaker opponent. I personally was not to sure this was the case after watching Elvis Sinosic vs Forrest Griffin in a previous Pay Per View. With a great pre-match build up, with some snappy vignettes from Bisping and Sinosic before the fight gets underway, this match has as much build up on the DVD as it did live! 

The fight its self, well where do I start.  I thought this match was going to be pretty one sided in Bispings favour and the first round proved this.  Bisping just beat the face off Elvis after taking him to the mat pretty much from the off and with a relentless barrage of punches and elbows to Sinosic’s face soon the blood flowed and Sinosics face was a mass of crimson red.  I was wondering as it approached the end of the round that the ref should have stopped this match as the punishment Sinosic was taking was looking sick.

The second round, and a very nervous looking Elvis tentatively came out to a start of another Bisping on slaught.  The tables almost turned when Elvis slipped in a high knee and floored Bisping allowing him to get on top.  This was short lived as Bisping soon turned it around and with a flurry of brain rattling punches and elbows the referee stopped the fight and gave the home town boy Michael Bisping a win the UK UFC fans would remember for a long time.

Overall the show was not the best UFC Pay Per View I have watched, but definitely one I wanted to add to my UFC collection, the packed MEN arena gave the show a truly British atmosphere. 

Quality Picture: 10/10Sound Quality: 9/10

Commentary: 10/10

Fights: 7/10

Extras: 4/10

Graphics & CGI: 8/10 

This DVD can be purchased from most DVD stockists for a RRP of £17.99.www.fightdvd.co.uk are currently selling this DVD for only £10.99 until the 21^st November.