Editor's Note

Our review of UFC: Ultimate Comebacks (Blu-Ray), published November 27th, 2008, is also available.

The Charge

From the brink of defeat!

The Case

Is there any greater story in sports than that of the vaulted "comeback"? Down for the count, out of the running, or beaten into near-submission, the notion of a competitor returning from the edge of defeat to achieve victory is one that appeals to the fans of just about any sport. Fans of mixed martial arts (MMA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) are no different: watching a guy getting pounded into the canvas stage a comeback is one of the biggest thrills in hand-to-hand combat.

UFC: Ultimate Comebacks presents eleven matches sourced from recent UFC pay-per-view events. In each, a competitor faces near-certain defeat before turning the tables and obtaining an unlikely victory. The matches include:

Pete Sell vs. Scott Smith
Alessio Sakara vs. Drew McFedries
Martin Kampman vs. Drew McFedries
Renato Sobral vs. Jason Lambert
Keith Jardine vs. Houston Alexander
Jon Fitch vs. Roan Carneiro
Colin Robinson vs. Eddie Sanchez
Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis
Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin
Jon Koppenhauer vs. Jared Rollins
Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida

Credit the UFC for assembling a solid roster of matches for Ultimate Comebacks. Only one of the eleven fights doesn't make it through the first round and many are real slobber-knockers that will have fans on the edge of their seats. Each match opens with a short recap setting the stage for the fight and detailing each fighter's record up to that point. There aren't a lot of big names in the fight selection, but that is also a credit to the UFC; they really appear determined to pick the best matches for this release, not just the fights that would sell the best.

All of the matches featured are sourced from previous UFC events. There hasn't been any upgrading done to the widescreen image, but the broadcast quality of each fight is more than acceptable, with no significant defects or issues. It certainly helps that none of the matches are more than two years old and that the UFC has the highest production values in the business. Audio is a solid 2-channel Dolby Digital offering. There are no special features.

There are only a couple of negatives to this offering. The first is that since these are comeback fights, the end result is rarely a surprise; whoever is catching an early beating is ultimately going to be the winner. Second, as the matches are all sourced from the past two years, there is a good chance that UFC fans have already seen many of them. One fight in particular (Pete Sell vs. Scott Smith) I've personally seen several times before in other DVD releases and television specials from the UFC.

Despite these shortcomings, there is no doubt that UFC: Ultimate Comebacks is a solid two hours of exciting fight action. This is a "no frills" release, but the content is so strong that one hardly notices. The UFC has selected matches that truly are "comeback" efforts and this release should prove to be a worthy addition to any MMA fan's collection.

Not guilty.

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