My favorite girl and I have always been fans of mixed martial arts, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship in particular. The UFC, of course, is known for its testosterone-soaked combination of hysterical announcers, fun MMA action, colorful referees, legions of tattooed fighters who are divided between classy and prick, and being the target of John McCain's infamous "human cockfighting" comment. As such, watching it is a fine date activity!

UFC #65: Bad Intentions took place at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California on November 18, 2006, and featured 9 fights, including the (then) much-awaited rematch between Matt Hughes and George St. Pierre. Sadly, my hero - Tito Ortiz - was not scheduled to appear, but this time out, there was a sufficient level of other badassness to make up for that.

Khendra and I saw this one when it first aired on pay-per-view. This was back when they still had that "gladiator" theme, where they'd show that Roman-style gladiator guy gearing up at the beginning, like he's about to enter the Colisseum. They got rid of that theme in the end, and I'm kinda glad they did. Not that I thought it was lame or anything, but dude. The Colisseum fighters fought each other and wild animals to the death with weapons, and that's way more hardcore than anything MMA leagues would ever be allowed to do in these sadly civilized times.

That aside, we always remembered #65 for one bout in particular: the debut of Hector "Sick Dog" Ramirez.

His fight was so wrong yet so awesome that even afterwards, I could hardly believe it, and my lover concurred. Ever since, we had been hoping to find the DVD of this legendary event so that we could finally see it again. Now we have, and she thought it would be cute if I reviewed it. So once again I have a perfect excuse to burden the Epinions population with my ranting and raving!

Here we go!

Opening
It's traditional for UFC events to open with a few moments of soundbites from the main event fighters, where they can hype their game plan or (more often) trash-talk their opponent.

Tim Sylvia and his opponent Jeff Monson actually keep it calm, but the banter between the aforementioned Hughes and St. Pierre is more interesting. St. Pierre admits that he lost his last fight against Hughes before he even began, while Hughes insists that he won the fight cause he's better than St. Pierre and is still better than him. (Hughes is classy, but he can be kinda arrogant like this.)

The rest of the stuff before the actual fights is hardly worth mentioning, but I was irritated that, during the obligatory close-ups of the crowd, a lot of them made the sign of the devil at the camera. I dunno, maybe the fact that it's been done by even Britney Spears makes that as edgy as a rubber hammer. The crowd should've gone for a more obscure gesture, like the shocker. (Or more blatant, like the finger itself.)


Preliminary Card
The preliminary card can be a fun place, as these fights are where they often dump newcomers to the UFC, and thus you never know when some talented new badass might show up! These fights rarely get much hype, either, so we're also spared the irritation of having the commentators blow their load like they always do with the main event.

Fight 1: Jake "Irish" O'Brien vs. Josh Schockman (Heavyweight)
I did say that the preliminary was a place for cool surprises, but unfortunately, this fight was not among them. O'Brien kept taking it to the ground, but he never followed up with the submissions or ground-and-pound that expert grapplers are known for, nor did Schockman offer any real punishment for this failure. With so little happening, the referee stepped in no fewer than six times to put the fighters back on their feet! The crowd also made their displeasure known - indeed, I've witnessed only one other UFC event where I heard worse booing than this. Even more absurdly, both O'Brien and Schockman had never been defeated before, which made all this nonsense even more embarrassing. (However, I was intrigued to see one of them locking his ankles while he was in guard - that's a halfway-decent way to break them if your opponent knows what they're doing.)

The one bright point was that our commentators for the night turned out to be Mike Goldberg and Randy Couture, which was nice. Couture is a famous MMA fighter himself, and is thus capable of actually offering intelligent commentary, as he did during this fight.


Fight 2: James "The Sandman" Irvin vs. Hector "Sick Dog" Ramirez (Light Heavyweight)
Ahhh, here we go. As mentioned, this one is the reason Khendra and I sought this DVD. While officially it may have been a preliminary bout, it was the main event to us. Still, as we prepared to watch it again for the first time in years, I felt trepidation. Would it really be as awesome as I remember? My answer to that is two words: "WOO HOO!" Even before the end of Round 1, I wanted to cheer. This battle was worth the price of admission alone.

The commentators describe Sick Dog as "very explosive" and having a lot of "reckless abandon". I have to agree fully - he was totally wild! Even when he was fumbling or advancing right into Irvin's attack, he was still getting past it and menacing Irvin! There are very few UFC fighters who can pull that off. If you've ever wanted to see a fight with funny surprises and some very unorthodox takedowns, you'll look long and hard before finding a better one than this. Fittingly, the end of the fight was no less sudden, insane, and humorous. Maybe that's why Khendra and I always remembered this one - sure, there are plenty of UFC fights that were great, but great and hilarious?

As though all that weren't enough, Irvin was also wearing skintight briefs. Yes, he's yet another of those fighters who wants the entire world to know how big his package is! I always laugh when this happens (no matter how big the package is), so that added even more to the entertainment value.

Unfortunately, I must note that Irvin failed a drug test last summer (for methadone). However, you shouldn't let this sad turn of events keep you from appreciating the awesomeness of this fight!


Fight 3: Antoni "The Dutchman" Hardonk vs. Sherman "The Tank" Pendergarst (Heavyweight)
Another debut battle, in this case for Hardonk. This one also marks the night's first appearance of my favorite referee, Big John McCarthy, who has been with the UFC since pretty much the beginning. (Although on this occasion, the commentators are quick to joke that McCarthy doesn't look so big in front of these heavyweights.)

This was another good fight, with nice moments for both grappling and striking fans. I'd never seen Pendergarst's other matches, but he has an aggressiveness and directness well deserving of his "Tank" nickname, and wastes no time putting his opponent on the ground. However, Hardonk is no less prepared to make a good first impression himself. Admittedly, McCarthy had to separate them once, but this was all the warning they needed. I won't spoil who wins, but things very quickly come to a head.


Fight 4: Nick "Diablo" Diaz vs. Gleison Tibau (Welterweight)
I'd seen some of Diaz's other fights, most memorably his battle with Shawn Sherk. Diaz was 23 at the time of UFC 65, and oddly enough, his opponent was the same age. Tibau was yet another of the night's newcomers, and he's also from Brazil, so this predictably was a fight for the grappling fans. Both fighters held up well, in my opinion. Like many juijitsu-heavy matches, this was a suspenseful fight, with one fighter clearly dominating the other only until the next sudden reversal. (Sadly, striking fans such as myself don't care much for these bouts, preferring more the furious action of non-stop kicking and punching!)

One funny moment in this one was when Goldberg made a dumbass of himself by commenting that, as a newcomer, Tibau hasn't fought "the same caliber of world-class opponents as Diaz" - it's assy because Tibau happened to be dominating the fight at that particular moment. You know, you really should wait until the guy finishes winning or losing the fight before you rag on his experience. (Luckily, Couture wisely reminds Goldberg that it's hard to say what sort of intense competition Tibau might have faced in Brazil.)


Main Card

Fight 5: Joe "Daddy" Stevenson vs. Donkonjonosuke Mishima (Lightweight)
Sadly, there is not too much to write about this short fight. This was another grappling-heavy match, but definitely less even than some of the others tonight, and thus the action proved pretty one-sided. If this were a striking match, I'd have been okay with that, but as it was grappling, it was over before it had a chance to get really interesting. Hey, I'm the last to begrudge anyone for a well-earned victory, but if you were hoping for an epic battle where the victor wins only by the skin of his teeth, then you'll be looking elsewhere on the card.


Fight 6: Brandon "The Truth" Vera vs. Frank Mir (Heavyweight)
It's rather ironic that Tim Sylvia is one of the main events this time, while Frank Mir is not... considering that Mir broke Sylvia's arm in a previous fight. That aside, it is Brandon Vera that Mir was concerned with tonight. I liked this fight, as far as it went. Both these men are obviously hard strikers, and we see obvious blood even within the first minute. Granted, blood isn't always a harbinger of an early finish - I've seen fighters in these things bleed all over the frigging octagon and still make it to a decision - but this is one of those matches where a really brutal hit is landed and you know it's over even before anyone calls it. Which leads to an interesting ambiguity (ironically so, considering the quick and clear-cut victory): if that hit hadn't landed, would things have turned out different?


Fight 7: Drew "Massacre" McFedries vs. Alessio "Legionairio" Sakara (Light Heavyweight)
Another good striking match! And this despite Sakara's Brazilian background. Then again, maybe the man's epic legion of tattoos had something to do with it. If you've got that much skin art going on (including even your nicknamed tattooed on your back), you need to be the kinda guy who draws blood. Anyway, there was so much fist work in this fight that it was almost more like a boxing match than MMA. Interestingly, Sakara plays it defensive at the start, and it actually works pretty well in warding off the aggressive McFedries... at first. At first? Yeah, I won't spoil whether Sakara gets beaten down anyway, or suddenly changes his strategy and goes aggro, but suffice to say that this is another fight that won't be accused of padding. (I will spoil, however, that one fighter almost gets pantsed after a bit of failed grappling - surely an accident rather than a deliberate attempt at unsportsmanlike humiliation, but pretty novel!)


Fight 8: Tim "The Maniac" Sylvia vs. Jeff "The Snowman" Monson (Heavyweight division).
As with any main event, much was made of this fight before it happened and - despite my aversion to hype - I was not disappointed.
Sylvia has always ranked among my favorite MMA fighters, and you might know why if you've ever seen him in action. The man is a giant, but unlike many other UFC guys, he didn't have that ultra-buff nigh-bodybuilder physique. Yet he still beat down everyone who stood between him and the Heavyweight championship up to this point. It's true, skill and craziness will trump muscle every time! (Yes, Sylvia also failed a drug test once, but at least he had the decency to cop to it and not insult our intelligence by feigning innocence, so I for one forgave him.)

His opponent is an interesting dude himself. Monson is almost more tattoed than Sakara from the last fight, and some of his tattoos are very interesting. Who else would sport an anarchy symbol and a Soviet hammer-and-sickle? Those two concepts couldn't be less alike, so you know Monson is trying to screw with our minds! Looks aside, Monson is a renowned grappler (as opposed to Sylvia, who is known for striking), which makes this match-up all the more interesting. It's always fun to see two completely different styles go head to head.

If you took Sick Dog out of the equation, this would probably be my favorite match of the night. Both men put up enough of a fight that I didn't feel embarrassed for the loser. Indeed, there are even some near-shocking moments that suggest that Sylvia is more adaptable than I would have thought (Goldberg, of course, is more hysterical in his commentating). Monson, too, deserves his share of the props. As tough as he looks, it can't be easy to stand up to someone with Sylvia's obvious reach.


Fight 9: Matt Hughes vs. Georges "Rush" St. Pierre (Welterweight division).
Tonight's other main event - the rematch of Hughes and St. Pierre! I have a lot of respect for both of these fighters, particularly St. Pierre. I don't know, his classiness and accent makes him really stand out, and it doesn't hurt that he actually is a great fighter. Ironically, the promos for this fight show one of St. Pierre's rare moments of trash-talking, when he said to Hughes (immediately after one of Hughes' previous victories) that he was "unimpressed by your performance". It also showed Hughes taking this well ("It's his opinion, it may stink, but it's his opinion"). Naturally, this confidence is one part of why I respect Hughes so much, as well. More sound bytes from both fighters ensue. Interestingly, all of St. Pierre's further comments are actually respectful of Hughes and his skill. Both men do a pretty good job of making it sound like we're about to watch a great fight. Even Couture himself comments that Hughes has looked unbeatable before, but he's about to face one of the most dynamic fighters in the UFC.

The beginning is interesting, with both fighters playing it defensively enough that you can tell they both fear/respect each other, and there's even a really cool moment where St. Pierre manages to tag Hughes with this amazing spin back kick. Hughes actually smiles and high fives St. Pierre in a show of class! I've never seen something like that before.

Unfortunately, the rest doesn't quite turn out to be the fight of the evening. Hughes and St. Pierre put up an entertaining effort, as you would expect, but I felt the bout was marred when St. Pierre kicked Hughes in the groin twice in a row. This is by no means legal, and hurt Hughes enough for the fight to be stopped for a moment.

Admittedly, the commentators and referee clearly do not believe St. Pierre did this on purpose. I don't believe he would, either, as he respects Hughes and has always fought by the rules before. That's not really much better, though (since it makes him careless rather than an outright cheater). On the other hand, I also have to be disappointed in Hughes for not wearing a good cup before he came in. I mean, WTF? I wouldn't even spar without a cup, let alone come within a million miles of a full-contact MMA event. So you can see how this would kinda spoil my enjoyment of this fight, no matter who ultimately won.


Extras
Sadly, the extras on this DVD are a sparse lot: just a "behind the scenes" feature for the two main event fights.

Actually, the feature isn't all that bad. Both Monson and Sylvia take a chance to show their humility and their appreciation for the UFC fans who made their job possible. (I already mentioned that I respect both fighters, right?) For the ladies, there's also a playful shot of Sylvia weighing in and flexing. So the feature is alright, but there's not too much you can learn here that you didn't during the earlier trash-talking.

There could've been more. Like maybe a feature on what the hell all of Monson's tattoos mean. I would've liked some kind of extra commentary on the whole night, but - given the commentators that were already present - I suppose that would've been a little redundant. But still, you can't deny that bringing back some of the fighters to comment on their fights now could've been neat.


Conclusion
Overall, we're looking pretty solid. Other than a handful of lame moments (the first fight, the groin shots), there's a lot of entertaining material here, including the truly unique Sick Dog fight. Any fan of the UFC (or MMA fighting at all) would do well to add this DVD to their collection!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older