Strikeforce might not be a household name but they’re UFC’s biggest threat. Strikeforce even partnered up with EA to release the EA MMA game. This is there first ever DVD release. The two disc set features 3 events, showcasing their biggest stars including Fedor Emelianenko, Allistair Overeem, Cung Le and Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

The first disc only has the first event, Heavy Artillery. The main event has heavyweight champ, Overeem going against Brett Rogers. I thought this was going to be a great fight but it turned out to be one sided. The rest of the card includes:
Rafael Cavalcante vs. Atwain Britt – Short fight but exciting.

Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman – Randleman was a late replacement but still put up a fight against the grappling expert, Roger Gracie.

Ronaldo Souza vs. Joey Villasenor – Souza didn’t slow down at all during the fight. Villasenor had a lot of heart .

Antonio Silva vs. Andrei Arlovski – It’s always interesting when Arlovski fights, you don’t know if he’ll be aggressive or passive.

Second disc has two events, Los Angeles and Fedor vs. Werdum. The Los Angeles event was scheduled to coincide with E3 and took place at the Nokia Theatre. Overall, the fights were okay, nothing too exciting.

KJ Noons vs. Conor Heun – This was a close fight and it could’ve gone either way.

Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Prangley – Too one sided.

Evangelista Santos vs. Marius Zaromskis – This was the most anticipated fight for me with both fighters wanting to stand up and exchange heavy punches.

Renato Sobral vs. Robbie Lawler – I expected a first round finish but this was an okay fight.

The second event featured the historic fight between Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum. This is the best event of the three, with none of the fights going to the judge.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum – Along with the MMA community, I was in shock with this one.

Cung Le vs. Scott Smith – This was a rematch. Smith came back in the first fight and won. This had a lot of fancy strikes. I enjoyed it.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Jan Finney – Very brutal match and one sided. The fight only went further because of Finney’s heart.

Josh Thomson vs. Pat Healy – Very close fight, great groundwork from both fighters.

Grade: B

Video:
Even though, it’s in anamorphic widescreen, the video isn’t as clear as UFC DVD’s. There’s a washed out look to it and it looks hazy. It’s still watchable but I expected better, especially since the original broadcast were in HD.
Grade: B-

Audio:
Audio is presented in Dolby Stereo here, the standard for most MMA DVDs. It’s a clean track with the commentators voice being heard the most. Crowd and fighters reaction can also be heard. The track is more than enough to handle the sounds of MMA.
Grade: B+

Extras:
Extras include bios of the fighters, weigh ins and pre-lim fights. I wish they included more behind the scenes footage. The highlight are the pre-lim fights but they’re not even in anamporphic widescreen.
Grade: C+

Overall:
The 2 disc set gives MMA fans a taste of Strikeforce. Not all of the fights are great but they’re not boring either. They have some of the best heavyweights in the world and it’s showcased in this DVD. If they can find a way to better market their product , Strikeforce can be a big threat to the UFC. Hopefully, Strikeforce will come out with better quality DVD’s in the future. They’re on the right track with this release, introducing new MMA fans to 3 of their well produced events.
Overall Grade: B

• Tweet