Cert: 15

Length: 174 mins

With other (less good looking) reviewers taking time off in January it has fallen to me to give you all the lowdown on the Cage Rage 13 DVD, and boy am I glad I got this chance!

Released on the 9th of January this is a must for any fans of MMA. Having only had occasional contact with Cage Rage (a British MMA company) I didnt put this into my DVD player expecting much of a show, and boy was I wrong!

Matches

• Jean Silva v Vitor Ribeiro
• Andy Costello v James Thompson
• Melvin Manhoef v Fabio Piemonte
• Mark Weir v Kyosuke Sasaki
• Marcelo Azevedo v Jorge Rivera
• Darren Little v "Cyborg" Santos
• Anthony Rea v Remus Ciobnu
• Brad Pickett v Ozzy Haluk
• Abdul Mohamed v Alexandre Lzidro
• Dean Bray v Jeremy Bailey

Highs and Lows

The thing I miss the most about UFC is the brutality of the earlier events, want to kick your opponent in the babymaker? Go ahead! Cage Rage 13 brought me back to that level of pain by introducing a new 'Open Guard' rule to prevent stalling on the ground, and boy does it work! If you manage to get your opponent onto the floor and he is judged able to defend himself by the referee then kicks and stomps to the head are legal, and that includes jumping double foot stomps the like of which Lo Ki would be proud of.

The first to really take advantage of the Open Guard rule was Brad Pickett in a match for the Featherweight Championship against Ozzy Haluk. A decent match that lasted until the second round (a rarity for this event) certainly showed just what damage can be caused by even a small amount of contact.

But besides the stomps, is this DVD actually any good? I can answer a definite yes! A MMA event with a great mix of styles and combatants that would please a fan of just about any style of combat. I don't remember the last time a mixed martial arts card showed as much variety of styles: you want to see a couple of guys punch each others lights out, no problem when you see Melvin Manhoef get beaten by a HUGE punch from Fabio Piermonte.

What, you like technical groundwork and grappling? Good job the main event saw Jean Silva defend his Lightweight Championship against Vitor Ribeiro.

For those who just enjoy a couple of guys dismantle someone so completely that you can't even begin to think why someone even got into the cage with them will enjoy the likes of Antony Rea, 'Cyborg' Santos and James 'The Colossus' Thompson. Heck, if you watch football just to complain about the referees then you'll have fun trying to figure out what bribe the officials got for the Abdul Mohamed and Alexandre Lzidro match! Or perhaps I just made a bet on the winner and lost that made me so upset�

For once I actually feel guilty about saying as much as I have about the results on the card, when reviewing I tend to analyse every match and what it means for every win or loss, but this is one event that I feel deserves nothing less than to be watched and for every fan to be caught up by the drama that unfolds.

DVD Extras

• Fighter Interviews
• Photo Gallery
• New Cage Rage Rules

Overall

I can only say this is the best MMA DVD I have seen in many months, go buy it now!

See you in a week or two with a review of a double Pride set�expect THAT to be a nice long read......

Paul Kelly

Buy It:

UK: DVD