MMA on DVD: King of the Cage: Big Stars, Volume 1

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So Skip Kassidy over at the DVD Lounge got this terrific King of the Cage set and asked if we were interested in reviewing it; it seemed like a pretty interesting set of fights, so I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s a five-disc set and this is just the first, so look for more coming up very shortly.

Before I get started, though, I’d like to address something: I got an e-mail the other day scolding me for being a bad example of an MMA journalist for remarking that Fedor Emelianenko had essentially refused to fight Randy Couture by not signing with the UFC. Now, I realize that any online criticism of Fedor is basically opening up a huge can of worms, but it wasn’t the writer’s criticism that bothered me–believe it or not, I love all feedback, positive or negative, just because it means that people are reading what I write–rather, it was his phrasing.

Let me be clear on this: I am not a journalist. Journalists verify and fact-check and cite sources and go through all sorts of channels to make sure that their stories are (usually) accurate. This is a little difficult for me, since I don’t have Randy, Fedor, or Dana White’s phone numbers laying around.

I’m a commentator. I see something happen, I try and find out the important facts regarding what I saw happen, I form an opinion about what I saw, I think about how I want to write out my opinion, and then I commit my opinion to paper. The only differences between you and me are:

  1. I have a forum to post my opinions in,
  2. I read a lot about mixed martial arts,
  3. I may have seen a few more fights than you have, and
  4. I train in some martial arts, including the ones that primarily make up MMA, and I might notice a few things that the average guy might not catch.

In today’s society, we seem to have enough problems telling the difference between journalists and commentators in every other aspect of the media, so I just wanted to lay that out there.

Since the UFC’s managed to make trailer parks full of money off The Ultimate Fighter, King of the Cage is trying to cash in as well.

If you’re not familiar with KOTC…well, you’re probably not alone. Having said that, though, it’s the most consistently successful non-UFC American promotion and essentially a feeder league into the larger promotions worldwide. The promotion’s more famous alums including current UFC light-heavyweight champ Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and TUF winners Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson, Rashad Evans, and Kendall Grove. With mixed martial arts more prominent than ever in mainstream America and The Ultimate Fighter providing a boost for that popularity, you can’t really blame KOTC for trying to make a quick and effortless buck off that, can you?

Kendall Grove vs. Hector Ramirez: Kendall pops out onstage with fire-engine red hair and the Hawaiian flag wrapped around his waist, which allows me to address one of my pet peeves. Now, I don’t mind guys coming down with their flag draped around their shoulders (a la Tim Sylvia) or as a t-shirt (pick a fighter); after a few beers, I can even tolerate guys wearing a flag on their trunks (Don Frye, Cro Cop, or ‘Rampage’ Jackson). When you wrap your flag around your waist like a bath towel, though, it just seems like poor taste. Nothing personal, Kendall–I’m just saying.

Kendall’s fighting at 195 tonight, though the announcers say that he doesn’t mind fighting at 185. His graphic lists him as 3-0 here, though the announcers acknowledge him as being 6-1 and mention his Rumble on the Rock loss to Joe Riggs. Ramirez is obviously about twice as dense as Kendall, so I’d say that cutting those 10 pounds turned out to be a pretty good career move.

Though both guys are now UFC material, at this point, they were both more noticeable for who they had riding shotgun: Kendall comes down with Matt Serra’s favorite coach, Marc Laimon, Joe Stevenson, and Phil Baroni, while ‘Sick Dog’ Ramirez comes down with Rampage in tow. We cut to a shot of Randy Couture signing autographs and talking to ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett (what on Earth could those two have been talking about?) as the ref gives the pre-fight instructions, and we’re off.

Round 1: Kendall comes right out and throws a wild right-hand lead, but Ramirez closes the gap and forces a clinch. Kendall tries to knee Ramirez in the clinch, but he catches the knee, takes Kendall down, and tries to pass into side control; Kendall’s pretty slippery on his back, though, and almost takes Ramirez’s back before sliding him into his guard and kicking back to his feet. Both men go back to a clinch and trade knees, then Kendall breaks free as he misses a wild overhand right.

Kendall backs away from the cage and eats a chopping overhand right and a nasty uppercut from Ramirez; getting desperate, Kendall tries to grab a Thai clinch and knee away, but Ramirez, having none of it, circles free and then presses forward. Moving backward, Kendall tries to throw a wide left hook; unfortunately for him, Ramirez has the exact same idea at the exact same time, and BANG–Kendall is out cold.

The Verdict: When you get a box set of videos, you rarely expect one of the guys pictured on the box to get knocked the fuck out. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why Kendall cuts weight like a madman: fighting a brick shithouse like Ramirez when you’re built like Shawn Bradley is a risky proposition to begin with, but fighting at 205 (a weight class full of almost nothing but brick shithouses) is tantamount to suicide. Still, it’s interesting to see Kendall’s roots as a fighter, because when all of his Ultimate Fighter coaches talked about how dramatically he’d improved under Tito’s care and feeding, I didn’t have a frame of reference to measure him against.

For his part, Ramirez looked great and honestly hasn’t looked bad in his two UFC fights, suffering a flash knockout to James Irvin in a fight that he was winning pretty handily and then having to chase a gunshy Forrest Griffin around the octagon in his first fight back after his loss to Keith Jardine.

Joe Stevenson vs. Ryan Painter: This is relatively early in Stevenson’s pro career, as he’s sporting a completely bald head and hasn’t hooked up with the Cobra Kai guys yet. To be honest, Stevenson’s got such a baby face that it’s easy to forget that he’s been fighting professionally since before he could legally drive or almost as long as Jens Pulver has.

Round 1: Both men square off and circle, then Stevenson absolutely clocks Painter with a huge overhand right (which was extremely uncharacteristic of Joe at this point) and shoots in for the single-leg takedown. Painter sprawls up against the fence to block, so Stevenson gets in deeper, picks Painter up over his head, and slams him down hard in the middle of the octagon. Still, Painter bounces right back up to his feet in a great scramble, but Joe tenaciously hangs onto that leg and tries to hook the other one for a takedown; Painter keeps sprawling and scrambling, but Stevenson finally gets him onto his butt against the cage. Joe puts him on his back, takes side control, and knees Painter hard in the head a couple of times (which is legal in KOTC); he tries to mount Painter, which creates just enough space for Painter to scramble to his feet as Stevenson holds him in a front facelock. Painter almost gets free, but Stevenson cinches the facelock, hooks his legs around the back of Painter’s knees, and drops to his back with a guillotine choke!

He gets the choke in deep (basically the same way he finished Melvin Guillard), but Painter keeps rolling, slides an arm in, and starts to get up, so Joe tightens the guillotine and drops back to guard, then slides his legs up over Painter’s shoulders and cranks away on Painter’s neck. Finally, Painter slides his head out, stacks Joe up, and starts slugging away from the top with left hands, so Stevenson switches his legs up over Painter’s right arm and tries to grab an armbar! Stevenson can’t straighten Painter’s arm out, so Painter maneuvers into side control and knees Stevenson in the head, then switches to north/south position and knees away from there. Joe finally releases Painter’s arm, which allows Painter to climb into his half-guard; Joe tries for a scissor sweep, but makes the grappler’s mistake of lowering his hands as he tries the sweep, so Painter starts pounding him with left hands from the top.

Joe rolls to his stomach looking for a heel hook, then rolls through and off the fence, holding onto Painter’s leg. Painter keeps circling to get his leg free, then ends up in Stevenson’s butterfly guard. Painter keeps trying to pass Stevenson’s guard, which allows Joe to grab a leg and twist. Still, Painter manages to get free and actually mount Joe, and now Joe slips out through Painter’s legs and pushes him back into his guard. Without giving Joe a second to rest, Painter jumps into his half-guard and starts sledging him with big right hands; with 30 seconds left in the round, Joe looks to be in big trouble, but the bell rings to save him. Between rounds, the announcers talk about how Joe looks pretty gassed…the more things change, right?

Round 2: Stevenson comes out, clocks Painter with a huge overhand right, and then picks him up for a huge slam against the fence. Painter goes for a triangle choke, but Joe passes easily into north-south position and rams a couple of knees into the back of Painter’s head. Painter tries to push off the cage with his feet and spin away, but Stevenson holds him in place and just plasters him in the head with several knees. Stevenson rotates Painter’s head against the cage and begins alternating knees to the head and body; by keeping Painter so close to the cage, he’s not giving him any room to shrimp out or scramble. Painter reaches up from the bottom and grabs a front facelock/half-assed guillotine, but Stevenson just moves into full mount and slides his arm loose, then switches back to side control and starts mashing Painter’s face with short punches and elbows. Our trusty cameraman shows a healthy gash opened up over one of Painter’s eyes, which the ref stops the fight to have checked. The doctor gives Painter a little quick care, and we restart the fight.

On the restart, Stevenson immediately shoots in for a single leg, and Painter does well to sprawl out and keep sprawling. Joe’s very persistent, though, and drags Painter onto his back and into half-guard; in response, Painter tries to sweep him, and while he can’t put Joe on his back, he does create enough space to get right back to his feet in a clinch. Joe immediately drops down for a double-leg takedown and drives Painter back into the fence, then steps back, scoops him up onto his shoulders, and dumps him onto his back.

Stevenson props Painter’s head up against the fence, and then, from Painter’s guard, he postures up and blasts Painter in the face with a couple of huge rights and a nasty left elbow. Painter tries to swing his legs up for an armbar or triangle, but Joe puts a stop to that with a nasty right hand over the top and another short left elbow. Painter is now hanging onto Joe’s arm for dear life, but the round ends before he can take any more damage. Bruce Buffer announces the winner by split decision–Joe Stevenson.

The Verdict: Easily the best match on the DVD, this fight definitely had a few momentum swings, but Joe took control of the fight the second that he came out of his corner for the second round. The first round was all counters, reversals, and scrambles, but the second round was just Stevenson methodically kicking the crap out of Painter on the ground and salting away the fight.

Everybody knows how Stevenson’s career turned out, but this ended up being Painter’s last professional MMA fight. That’s a shame, really, because while there might be a lot of fighters that you wish would just go away, Painter actually held his own with a guy who could become the UFC lightweight champ in a couple of months. Still, knowing what these guys make for fighting in the smaller organizations, I hope that he found something a little safer and more profitable.

Rashad Evans vs. Jaime Jara: I’m a little concerned about this, because "exciting" and "early Rashad Evans fight" aren’t exactly synonymous with each other. Rashad rolls down to ringside with Dan Severn, which explains a lot, while Jara’s dad corners him at ringside, which has got to make for some awkward moments. Jara, coincidentally, is inked from head to toe, which looks a bit excessive even by MMA standards.

Round 1: Jara snaps off a leg kick to start, and Evans showboats a little, then grabs a clinch. Rashad finally gets him up for a takedown, and–after Jara finally lets go of the fence–gets him to his back. Not wasting time, Rashad stands up in Jara’s guard and lands some pretty decent punches, finally stepping over one of Jara’s legs into his half-guard. He swings around to try and take Jara’s back, but Jara uses the scramble to get back to his feet and grab another clinch. Evans presses Jara against the cage in the clinch, but Jara throws a wild right hand to break free. Rashad prances around the octagon trying to show Jara up, so Jara throws out a few leg kicks; Rashad keeps acting the fool until clinching Jara against the fence where both men hold for a little bit.

Evans eats a knee to break that clinch, and Jara rushes in with an overhand left, but Rashad returns fire with two nasty cross/hook combinations that stagger Jara and a big double-leg takedown against the fence. He immediately passes into full mount and starts unloading with punches: Jara rolls over, so Rashad takes his back, unloads a couple of punches and starts angling for the choke, but the round runs out before anything of note happens.

Round 2: Rashad eats another leg kick to start but manages to suck Jara right back into the clinch; after about a minute of wrangling, he drops down and gets a nice double-leg slam right into the center of the octagon. He stands up in Jara’s guard, drops a big right hand, and then tries a flying guard pass, which Jara blocks. Taking the more direct route, Rashad then fakes a diving punch, puts his right foot on the mat between Jara’s legs, and then simply steps right over Jara’s legs into full mount. Jara tries to tie Rashad up, then rolls over, slides out between Rashad’s legs, and pops right back to his feet in a nice little scramble.

The ref calls time to check Jara’s gloves, and both men clinch on the restart. Jara breaks the clinch against the fence with a crisp left hook, but Rashad just comes forward, talking shit all the way. From his southpaw stance, Rashad lands a decent right jab and keeps jawing, so Jara tries to shut him up with a wild overhand left, which only results in Rashad sucking him right back into the clinch. From there, Jara lands the occasional knee until the ref restarts them. Of course, as soon as the restart comes off, Rashad pulls him right back into the clinch, and takes him right back to the mat as the bell sounds to end the round.

Round 3: Jara fires off a leg kick but eats a quick right hand and–say it with me–gets pulled into a clinch and taken down. Rashad gets a couple of quick punches off through Jara’s guard before he manages to push Evans away a little; Evans pries his way into Jara’s half-guard, but as he tries to advance, Jara sneaks right out the back door and to his feet for the second time in two rounds. We repeat our old familiar patterns even more: Jara goes back to kicking Evans’s lead leg, and Evans goes back to showboating. Both fighters trade against the fence, and Rashad lands a sharp overhand right and then gets another takedown as Jara grabs the fence yet again. He tries to pass, but the referees stands them both back up and checks Jara’s gloves yet again; on the restart, Jara clinches and tries for a takedown, but time runs out on the fight.

The Verdict: This fight reminded me of Vince Vaughn’s soliloquy in Swingers: Rashad was the bear and Jara was the bunny. On a couple of occasions during the fight, Rashad was *this* close to killing the bunny but couldn’t quite finish the fight, which isn’t really out of character for a developing fighter. Outside of that, what really stood out was the taunting and showboating, but I can only assume that Greg Jackson finally weaned him off that.

Even though it was pretty one-sided, the fight itself wasn’t a snoozer. Yeah, both fighters spent a lot of time in the clinch and Jara spent a lot of time on his back, but Rashad never stopped trying to pass guard and advance position, so it wasn’t necessarily lay-and-pray.

Forrest Griffin vs. Steve Sayegh: Forrest comes charging in with a wild right and eats a right hand from Sayegh, but manages to snatch a Thai clinch against the cage. From there, Forrest starts drilling his opponent with knees to the ribs and face, then switches to a wrestling clinch and pulls out a nice belly-to-belly takedown. On the ground, Sayegh ties his arms up at first, but Forrest slowly walks him up against the cage as Rory Singer shouts instructions to him. Forrest gets his arms free, but Sayegh almost manages to sweep him, so Forrest keeps a hook in, slides around behind Sayegh, and takes his back.

Sayegh rolls over onto his back against the cage, which proves to be fatal, because Forrest switches over into full mount, pins Sayegh’s right arm underneath his leg, and starts pounding away. With his head pinned against the cage, his dominant arm completely useless, and Griffin pounding away on top of him, Sayegh has no choice but to tap.

The Verdict: Sayegh was obviously brought in as cannon fodder for the up-and-coming Griffin, who’d already beaten Jeff Monson and Travis Fulton at this point in his career. In fact, it reminded me of an amateur match–the kind where both guys might be 0-0 coming in, but one’s been training for six years while the other one just started six months ago. Overall, this was a nice showcase of Forrest’s ground skills, a part of his overall game that a lot of fans (and ‘Shogun’ Rua, apparently) tend to overlook.

The Inside Pulse
An interesting slice of nostalgia, but showing the early development of a bunch of still-developing fighters doesn’t always make for the most interesting show. I wouldn’t exactly go out of my way to buy this one, but as part of an interesting five-disc set, it’s not so bad.