UFC Presents: The Ultimate 100 Knockouts Blu-ray offers decent video and mediocre audio in this mediocre Blu-ray release
A collection of the best knockouts in UFC history.
For more about UFC Presents: The Ultimate 100 Knockouts and the UFC Presents: The Ultimate 100 Knockouts Blu-ray release, see UFC Presents: The Ultimate 100 Knockouts Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on February 22, 2014 where this Blu-ray release scored 2.5 out of 5.
In the UFC, the knockout is sort of like the grand slam, the touchdown bomb, the super slam dunk, the laser beam shootout slap shot. Sure there
are plenty
of other components that lead up to those things, evolutions in the contest that put an athlete in a particular spot to grab a a moment of glory, but
most people tend to gloss over all of the little "small ball" things and gush over the highlight. UFC Presents: Ultimate 100 Knockouts, then, is
more than two hours of gushing, a collection of, as the title plainly suggests, the 100 best knockouts in UFC history. UFC fans have enjoyed similar
releases on Blu-ray before -- Ultimate Knockouts 7, Ultimate Knockouts 8, and Ultimate Knockouts 9 are all knockout compilations -- and as with those
titles, this is a laser-like focused program, a rapid-fire assault of instant gratification, moments of glory for one fighter and moments of infamy for
another boiled down to a few seconds of brutality that are not contextually framed, for the most part, by the lead-up to the knockout but that do
show just how fast a match can end
and how intoxicating bearing witness to the knockout blow can be.
Down and out.
UFC Presents: Ultimate 100 Knockouts is pretty much as it sounds. It's hosted by UFC Commentator Jon Anik, who only occasionally
appears to set the stage for a fight or fill in a bit of fighter and sport background to place the coming knockout in some context. Each match is
introduced with a ranking graphic and overlays that identify the fighters, the event, and the date on which the knockout took place. Some of the
matches are shown in greater length than others. Many cut in partway through the fight and spend a good minute or so on the buildup to
the knockout. Others last precious few seconds before the cutaway to the next K.O., though there's usually at least a replay or two before moving
forward. Occasionally, some of the fighters on the delivering end of the knockout will chime in through an interview clip inserted after the fight. In
essence, the video is almost as lightning-fast as the knockouts themselves, breezing through 100 knockouts in 158 minutes.
The UFC has struggled through some dark times of deep controversy and popular
bashing by politicians and other largely uninformed outsiders who only saw these sorts of "knockouts" rather than the finesse, skill, sportsmanship,
and relative safety that exists within the UFC ranks. The excellent Fighting for a Generation: 20 Years of the UFC recounts these dark
times with much more depth and detail. Clearly, the sport -- of which people participate on their own free accord -- has evolved to
where it feels comfortable to highlight and isolate one of the most violent parts of the greater whole for entertainment value. Certainly, one can
see the
concern
from a casual viewpoint, particularly these days with the dangerous "knockout games" growing in popularity amongst America's youths. Whether
it's
courage to release this product and others like it, strictly business, or if it really is feeding some "bloodlust" on the consumer level -- the same
many
opponents would say fuel people's enjoyment of the NFL, NASCAR crashes, and other moments of high intensity sporting violence -- is up for
debate,
but it's nevertheless a welcome addition to the UFC Blu-ray library, even if it does come across as somewhat pointless without the context of the
greater fight to back it up (save, of course, for those occasional K.O.s that come in the opening seconds). There's nevertheless an undeniable rush
of
adrenaline
in witnessing the instant knockout, though highlighting them does do an injustice to the ballet of skill, mental fortitude, physical strength, and
personal determination that are necessary components of getting a fighter into position to deliver the knockout blow.
Below is a sampling of the 100 knockouts included in the set:
100: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Leben. UFC Fight Night 5 -- June 28, 2006.
95: Nate Marquardt vs. Tyron Woodley. Strikeforce -- July 14, 2012.
90: George Roop vs. Chan-Sung Jung. WEC 51 -- September 30, 2010.
80: Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee. UFC 114 -- May 29, 2010.
75: Johny Hendricks vs. Martin Kampmann. UFC 154 -- November 17, 2012.
65: Shonie Carter vs. Matt Serra. UFC 31 -- May 4, 2001.
60: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz. UFC 47 -- April 2, 2004.
50: Johny Hendricks vs. Jon Fitch. UFC 141 -- December 30, 2011.
40: Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler. UFC 47 -- April 4, 2004.
35: Travis Browne vs. Stefan Struve. UFC 130 -- May 28, 2011.
30: John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson. UFC 129 -- April 30, 2011.
25: Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva. UFC Brazil -- October 16, 1998.
20: BJ Penn vs. Caol Uno. UFC 34 -- November 2, 2001.
10: Dan Henderson vs. Wanderlei Silva. Pride 33 -- February 24, 2007.
5: Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture. UFC 52 -- April 16, 2005.
UFC Presents: Ultimate 100 Knockouts' 1080i, 1.78:1-framed transfer suffices, but it won't dazzle any viewer. The image is generally stable
and pleasing. The newer HD video fight segments and the newly minted interview clips look suitably sharp, showing well-defined details on faces,
fighter trunks, and Octagon advertisements. Colors, here, are quite good too, particularly the bolder and brighter shades on, again, fighter attire and
brand advertisements. There is a bit of noise which spikes on occasion, and background banding in some of the interviews is painfully evident. The
video cobbles together some older footage from the 1990s and early 2000s that's much rougher around the edges, some sourced from SD material
that appears to have been stretched out or zoomed in to fit the 1.78:1 frame. UFC Presents: Ultimate 100 Knockouts doesn't look as good as
the typical WWE title, but it works well enough for what it is and the material's meager requirements.
UFC Presents: Ultimate 100 Knockouts fatures a sparse and only baseline effective Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. The track's requirements are
few. The main ingredient is dialogue. Jon Anik insight, in-fight commentary and play-by-play, and interview clips play with acceptable clarity and
front-middle stage placement. Music is suitably well defined and spaced. Crowd cheers don't fare well, whether in older or newer matches; they come
across as a wall of garbled sound, identifiable as cheering but lacking anything close to an immersive, realistic feel. This track, like the video, meets
the program's basic requirements, no more and no less.
Do the math. UFC Presents: Ultimate 100 Knockouts serves up 100 knockouts in 158 minutes. There's no filler or fluff beyond interspersed
host observations and a few select fighter interview clips. This is a relentless, exciting production that certainly loses some of the grace and context
behind many of the fights, but it's still a thrilling watch and a must-see for any UFC fan. It's a shame the set couldn't be expanded to include not more
K.O.s but more content and lengthier match segments, if not the entire matches themselves. Overall, however, this is a release UFC fans should love.
Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of UFC Presents: Ultimate 100 Knockouts features video qualities that mostly reflect the original programing.
Sound is
limited to a cramped but generally effective Dolby Digital 2.0 track. No extras are included. Recommended to UFC fans. Newcomers should try
something like the excellent Ultimate 100 instead that's more about the full fights and their contexts
rather than a single, albeit thrilling, component thereof.
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