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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.
UFC 43: MELTDOWN
JUNE 6, 2003
LAS VEGAS, NEV. AT THE THOMAS & MACK CENTER
Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell
The UFC was rapidly expanding at this point and in the process of producing some big time main eventers. Chuck Liddell was the man everyone was looking at coming into this event. At this point in his career, Chuck had 13 fights under his belt and only lost once to Jeremy Horn back at UFC 19. He was coming off a spectacular knockout win over the always dangerous Renato Sobral, and was pegged as the poster boy for the rapidly accelerating Zuffa hype train. Chuck took the Sobral fight despite the fact that he was already the number one contender for Tito Ortiz’s light heavyweight championship. Tito had been ducking Chuck for a while as speculated by many and was unavailable for the fight. Enter Dana White and his seemingly unending supply of interim championship title belts. This fight was made because it was the next best thing compared to Liddell/Ortiz. Randy Couture was a very well known heavyweight fighter and former two-time heavyweight UFC champion coming in. However, he was coming off tough losses to Affliction Trilogy killer Josh Barnett and the suave one, Ricco Rodriguez. Couture was considered a great well-rounded fighter but we had not yet seen the heart of Captain America, considering his two previous losses. This made for one hell of a main event; a two-time former heavyweight champion moving down in weight to take on one of the sport’s most dangerous strikers.
THE FIGHT
Round 1: Big John starts the action and we are underway. Not surprisingly Couture looks to get inside but Liddell has none of it. Liddell looks to counter but Couture isn’t throwing much. Around the one minute mark, Couture grabs a single leg off a sloppy leg kick attempt from Chuck and performs a spectacular slam for the first takedown of the fight. Couture works from half guard but Chuck makes his way up the cage and Couture looks for a standing guillotine choke. Chuck escapes and scampers away. Chuck pumps the jab and gets nowhere but against the cage with Randy in hot pursuit. Brief clinch and Couture almost eats a well timed overhand right by Chuck as they separate again. Chuck looks tentative now, waiting for Couture to throw something. Randy is laying on the pressure, but staying just out of Chuck’s reach. The fight begins to take a turn now as Randy starts beating Liddell to the punch. Chuck looks confused and gets taken down again after a poorly timed straight right attempt. Chuck gets back to his feet but is being controlled from his back. This is an outstanding performance so far by the former heavyweight champ.
Round 2: Rounds starts and Liddell still looks tentative. Couture lands a nice right hook followed by a left and initiates a clinch. Chuck lands a few knees and punches against the cage before they separate. Chuck keeps looking for the counter but Couture is patient and is staying out of reach. Nice left hook thrown by randy and Chuck backs away. Chuck throws the left right combination but hits nothing but air and eats a right hook for his effort. Couture is clearly getting the better of the exchanges and is stalking the Iceman. Chuck just misses a nice opportunity to end the fight after Couture botches a single leg attempt but is not in position. Couture lands a beautiful left hook and initiates another clinch. It’s not looking good for Liddell at the moment. They disengage and Chuck lands his best punch of the fight, a right hook that lands flush on the jaw of Couture, but he is not fazed. Nice right hook thrown by Randy and catches Chuck on the jaw and immediately gets a single leg trip takedown. Randy works the ground and pound from Chuck’s guard. Chuck gets a reversal and lands a few punches of his own from the top. The round ends with Chuck in a dominant position for the first time in the fight.
Round 3: Round begins and Liddell looks for a leg kick but eats a perfectly timed jab by Randy. Randy is still stalking with his hands up and lands a nice uppercut. Chuck looks tired and really confused now. Randy is almost landing at will now as a few nice exchanges unfold with Couture showing impressive defensive tactics. A few short exchanges later Randy gets another takedown and gains full mount position, this is the beginning of the end folks. Couture rains down punches onto the Iceman’s face and Chuck is rendered defenseless as Big John steps in to end the fight. This was a fantastic display by the Natural as he cemented his place in the UFC history books as the first man to win a UFC championship in two different weight classes.
AFTERMATH
Randy Couture: Couture would go on to unify his interim championship against Tito Ortiz at UFC 44: Undisputed just three short months later. That fight would end Tito’s reign at the top of the UFC light heavyweight division and helped solidify Couture as one of the best, if not the best fighter in the sport of MMA. Couture would go on to have several more big fights in his career, but his fights against Ortiz and Liddell have made him arguably the most popular fighter in UFC history. The Liddell/Couture 1 fight made everyone take notice of the middle aged Greco roman wrestler and propelled him into a whole other realm of superstardom. The fact that Randy is still fighting is a testament to his conditioning, incredible heart, and dedication to a sport that has made him a household name.
Chuck Liddell: Chuck took the loss to Couture rather well, considering the domination he endured. Two short months later, Dana White saw fit to enter the Iceman into pride 2003 middleweight grand prix. Liddell defeated tough Dutchman Alistair Overeem in the first round via vicious knockout but would go on to get outclassed by fast rising light heavyweight and future UFC champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in the second round of the grand prix. As we all know, Chuck did not take the Couture and Jackson losses badly as he went on to become one of the most dominant UFC light heavyweight champions in history and tied Tito Ortiz’s title defense record of five. Chuck has wins over Couture (2), Ortiz(2), Sobral (2), Wanderlei Silva, Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort, and various other greats of the sport. Chuck has participated in some of the most lucrative fights in UFC history and although he has hit a rough patch as of late, he is considered one of the greatest UFC contracted fighters of all time by virtually all fans of the sport.
PACKAGING
This disc was distributed by StudioWorks and is packed with roughly a half hour of extras in addition to the event itself. The extras on this disc are nothing truly special, but they do contain a few backstage segments along with post and pre fight interviews with some of the fighters at the event. This DVD was packaged by itself upon first release, and was later included in a double pack alongside UFC 44. Best Buy is has both the single disc and the double pack for sale online both for $14.99 plus shipping, but both are listed as back ordered at this time. Amazon.com has both the single and double pack available for lower prices and I’m sure eBay would be an easy spot to look for anyone interested in adding this event to their DVD collection. There is also a special edition Liddell/Couture trilogy triple pack DVD set that came out two years ago which includes this event as well and would negate the need to own the double pack or single of UFC 43. All in all, this is a quality UFC event and should not be overlooked. If anyone has any questions as to where they can find a specific DVD, please feel free to drop me a line at my gmail account.
Catch up on the previous seven parts of this in-depth DVD review by checking out the Specialists section HERE or APP USERS check out the "Opinion" category on the bottom-screen menu.
Thank you all for your time and I hope you enjoyed reading my review as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will see you all next week on the next edition of DVD World.
[Randy Couture art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]
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