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By Brian Sweet, MMATorch DVD Specialist
Hello and welcome to the first week of my "DVD World" series of articles. My name is Brian Sweet and I am an avid collector MMA memorabilia and DVDs. It is my goal to provide viewers with a collection of MMA DVD reviews of MMA events that are widely available for purchase on the net and at local retailers. Please feel free to contact me at bs2647@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding all things DVD and MMA related. I own a complete Pride and UFC DVD library so please contact me if you have a specific disc in mind that you would like me to review. This week we will be looking at "UFC 43: Meltdown." This event was historic in that it produced the first ever UFC champion in two different weight divisions. So let's get down to business.
We will look at one fight each day, and not only review the fight itself, but tell you what the ramifications of the fight were from today's perspective looking back. I hope you enjoy reading this new daily feature as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Vernon "The Tiger" White vs. Ian "The Machine" Freeman
Vernon White was making his long awaited UFC debut at this event. He was a permanent fixture in the MMA world for years before making it to the big show, as the UFC is considered. White had fought in Japan numerous times and for stateside promotions as well. He was ready and able to make an impact, but there was a problem. He came into this fight weighing only 208 pounds, while the light heavyweight limit is 205. I've never gotten any clarification as to why he took this heavyweight fight, but Freeman came into this event weighing a cut 220 pounds. In any case, Freeman was looking to rebound from his previous loss inside the octagon to Andrei Arlovksi at UFC 40 coming into the event. Many people were anxious to see what Vernon could bring to the table due to his experience of 44 fights, at the time. The fact that White is a southpaw fighter added a little further intrigue to the affair. Everyone knew that Freeman could brawl due to his vicious beat down on Frank Mir at UFC 38 and were eager to see how this thing played out. One click later and boom goes the dynamite.
THE FIGHT
Round 1 – Larry Landless begins the action and we are underway. Touch of gloves and White digs in with a leg kick attempt. White lands an outside leg kick and follows with a left hook that misses. Freeman looks for the counter right and left hook combo but gets taken down. Vernon works from the guard and gets nowhere before standing up and landing a nice diving left hook on Freeman. Both men get back to their feet and a clinch war ensues. Freeman eventually gets a takedown of his own and works some ground and pound. A failed armbar attempt by White lands freeman on his back as the round ends.
Round 2 – Round starts with White looking for a left high kick but hits air. Freeman looks to land a few punches but White uses good head movement to avoid. White shoots for a single leg but Freeman stuffs it and gains back control. A brief scramble on the ground ends with Freeman landing in back side control. Freeman lands a few punches to the head of White and Vernon gets a reversal. White gains half guard and lands a nice forearm which opens a small cut over the right eye of the machine. A brief scramble ensues and White briefly gains the mount position before landing back in Freeman's guard. Not much action here. White gains side control and lands a few vicious elbows and looks for a kimura. Both men back to their feet and in the clinch. Just before the round ends, White lands a nice left high kick before Freeman gets off a few punches.
Round 3 – The best exchange of the fights begins round three as White looks for a spinning back fist followed by a left straight, but Freeman avoids. The Machine lands a nice left hook of his own and throws some bombs that Vernon covers up for. Both men in the clinch now and the crowd erupts briefly. White lands a knee and Freeman shoots for a double leg. It is stuffed and Vernon lands a few punches from the guard after securing a takedown of his own. A brief scramble and both men engage in the clinch again. Damn, these guys are brawling and throwing bombs but not much lands. Both guys look tired as White gets the muai thai plum and lands a few knees to the face of Ian freeman. Exhaustion sets in as the crowd cheers both men on. Not much going on now. Landless separates the clinch and Freeman lands a huge right hook followed by a left but White takes it well. Round ends with both men throwing heavy leather with no clear victor. The fight is ruled a draw and rightfully so.
AFTERMATH
Vernon "The Tiger" White: Vernon White has been around for a long time. In fact, he competed in the very first Pancrase show way back in 1993. He has delivered some great performances over the years, but championship success has eluded him in big organizations such as the UFC and Pride. He has more losses than wins on his record, but no one can argue that The Tiger has fought some of the greatest MMA warriors of all time. White has losses on his record to Minoru Suzuki, Masakastu Funaki(2), Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Pedro Rizzo, Mario Sperry, Allan Goes, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, and Mike Whitehead, along with several others. Even though he has some quality wins, White will just never be considered a "top guy" on my list. He does bring it though, and that has to count for something. He would go on to lose to Liddell in his next and last fight in the UFC and continue fighting in smaller outside orgs picking up wins here and there. There is really nothing much else to say about him other than he helped pioneer this sport during its infancy.
Ian "The machine" Freeman: This fight was the last time we would ever see The Machine inside the octagon. Freeman was a fun guy to watch when he first came into the UFC. He lost his first fight but rebounded in a big way with three quality wins including a spectacular TKO over Frank Mir in London at UFC 38. It seemed Ian was on the fast track to a title fight, but Andrei Arlovski had other plans and commenced to laying a cold beat down in Freeman in less than two minutes at UFC 40. After his lackluster UFC 27 win over Ted Williams, Freeman suffered four defeats in a row outside the octagon and had lost valuable momentum upon his return. The win he earned over Frank Mir quite frankly, wasn't supposed to happen but it did and Freeman earned one more shot in the UFC. He just couldn't pull the trigger. Freeman went on to earn a few quality wins in other orgs and suffered a highlight reel knockout loss to Melvin Manhoef. There really isn't much else to say about Ian Freeman either, other than he was instrumental in bringing MMA to the masses in the U.K.
Check back every day for our continued march through this DVD. Here's the schedule...
MONDAY: Pedro "The Rock" Rizzo vs. Tra "Trauma" Telligma
TUESDAY - FIGHT 2: Matt "The Law" Lindland vs. Falaniko Vitale
WEDNESDAY - FIGHT 3: Yves Edwards vs. Eddie Ruiz
TODAY - FIGHT 4: Wes "The Project" Sims vs. Frank Mir
FRIDAY - FIGHT 5: Vernon "The Tiger" White vs. Ian "The Machine" Freeman
SATURDAY - FIGHT 6: Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort vs Marvin "The Beastman" Eastman
SUNDAY - FIGHT 7: Tank Abbott vs. Kimo Leopoldo
MONDAY - FIGHT 7: Randy "The Natural" Couture vs. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell
And then stay tuned next Monday for the start of another full DVD review.
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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