Search - Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 50 - War of '04 on DVD

Great bouts, but main event fizzles

Matt | NJ | 03/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The War of 04'. We see Rich Franklin continue on his path to a title shot. He is truly a well-rounded mixed martial artist. Matt Hughes v. George St. Pierre was an interesting fight. It appeared as though the fight was being dictated by St. Pierre. He gave Matt Hughes all he could handle before making a costly error.



Ivan Salaverry impresses me once again. He is the kind of fighter who lets the flow of the fight dictate how he will defeat his opponent. He doesn't simply come in and impose his will. He lets his opponent choose a style and then finishes him in that style - he's very scrappy and talented. Evan Tanner, the ever-underrated warrior, shows us that experience and poise can prevail over raw talent and brute strength when he faces off with Ruthless Robbie Lawler.



Cheruto Verissimo v. Frank Trigg is another good fight. Here we had two of the top contenders going at it. They are quite equally matched but, in the end, raw power is the deciding factor.



In the main event, Tito Ortiz takes on no-name Patrick Cote, who replaced Guy Metzger due to an injury. Every single fight on the card that night was more interesting than this one. Nothing noteworthy from either side - just plain boring.



As an aside, we get commentary throughout from Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, who does a very good job, in my opinion."

Nice arm locks

LF | USA | 10/16/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I always enjoy UFC cards, but this one wasn't particularly good. The Tito Ortiz fight was extremely one sided. Patrick Cote didn't belong in the ring with him because he was unable to get out from under him or defend against the ground and pound. It isn't terribly interesting to watch Ortiz elbow Cote in the head.



The one unique thing I saw in this card was that two of the fights ended in the exact same arm bar. It was the second jiu jitsu move I ever learned, after the America lock, and it was ridiculous when one of the announcers said that it was a very advanced jiu jitsu move, not one of the basics. It is the second move on the Craig Kukuk-Renzo Gracie tapes, and it was executed exactly that way, both times, in UFC 50, at championship level.



The announcing seems a bit dumb at times. The announcer was giving an example of an extreme underdog actually winning a fight, and the example he chose was Rocky. As in ... duhhhh ... that wasn't real .... duhhhh.



Another dopy thing one of the announcers did was explain that Matt Hughes had successfully defended his welterweight title five times and then lost it, but was fighting to regain it.



What's wrong with that? He didn't tell who Hughes lost it to, or why the title was now vacant. Another "duhhhh" moment.



I really like mixed martial arts. It is so much more interesting than boxing. There's so much more you can do, so many more ways you can win. And it is a lot more effective for self defense. It is simply a better sport, period, as far as I'm concerned. Boxing is like hitting the same five notes on a piano over and over. Let's see, there's the jab, the right cross, the left hook, the uppercut. Now what will we do. How about another jab. Gee wasn't that interesting.



It's nice to see Tito Ortiz growing up and not acting like an immature punk for a change. He showed a lot of class when he complimented Canadian fighters, since his Canadian opponent Patrick Cote seemed to have some issues with that. Contrast that to the stupid things Matt Hughes said about Canadian fighters being weak. Matt Hughes is a sensational fighter, but he is a bit of a load as a person. Maybe one day he will mature the way Tito Ortiz did. Tito used to be worse than Matt is now, and that's saying a lot."

Excellent, but not the best all around

death | USA | 02/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was a mixed bag of killer fights and so-so fights. Matt Hughes vs. George St. Pierre is something that must be seen... easily the two best in that weight class in the world (in my opinion anyway). Many people thought that the main event was not great because Tito was supposedly meant to walk through Cote. Hate to say it folks, but you can't fault Ortiz for fighting somebody that is just too damned tough to quit. Good show... a must own. Buy it!"