Cert: 18

Length: 75 mins

"It's all over. It is... all... over." One thing this release certainly can't claim to showcase is the extensive vocabulary of one Mike Goldberg.

The Fights

• Mike Kyle vs. Wes Sims
• Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler
• Andrei Arlovski vs. Cabbage Correira
• Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz
• Georges St. Pierre vs. Jay Hieron
• Frank Trigg vs. Dennis Hallman
• Yves Edwards vs. Josh Thomson
• Justin Eilers vs. Mike Kyle
• David Terrell vs. Matt Lindland
• Chuck Liddell vs. Vernon White
• Joe Riggs vs. Joe Doerksen
• Travis Lutter vs. Marvin Eastman
• Frank Trigg vs. Renato Verissimo
• Nick Diaz vs. Drew Fickett
• Mike Kyle vs. James Irvin
• Paul Buentello vs. Justin Eilers
• Evan Tanner vs. David Terrell
• Alex Karalexis vs. Josh Rafferty
• Mike Swick vs. Alex Schoenauer
• Nate Quarry vs. Lodune Sincaid
• Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Sanford
• Chris Leben vs. Jason Thacker

The title of "Ultimate Knockouts" is something of an un-apt one for these seventy-odd minutes, but I'd wager that the graphical design department would have a bit of trouble emblazoning the mere space afforded by your standard DVD case with the motif "UFC: Highlights of every fight from UFCs 47-51 that didn't end by submission, or go the distance." For instance, who (Frank Trigg's mother aside) would bestow the prolonged ground & pounding that Renato Verissimo received at "The War Of '04" with the accolade "Ultimate Knockout?"

Likewise, with UFC 49 holding a special place in my heart- not only because it's one of the finest MMA events in history, but because I was live in attendance, oh yes indeedy- I came in fully expecting to relive Yves Edwards' flying roundhouse kick, as well as the excocet-like Octagon inaugurations of Justin Eilers & David Terrell, it came as something of a mild surprise when one of the evening's lesser memories amongst the aforementioned (and Randy Couture title victories)- Joe Riggs picking apart Joe Doerksen from full mount- found it's way onto such a compilation.

With that minor misgiving out of the way, there's not really any tremendous amount that I can add: you'll already know, from the very essence of this shiny silver circle, if it's going to be for you. Herewithin are a good smattering of the most visually impressionable thrown-fist instigated stoppages in modern day UFC folklore: Andrei Arlovski using "Cabbage" Corriera as a standing human punchbag until Mario Yamasaki decided he'd had enough at UFC 47, the much re-played barrage that closed the same event & saw Chuck Liddell garner his biggest career victory at the time- over Tito Ortiz- which is always worth watching, and Justin Eilers' bona fide Flair-Flop, courtesy of a swift hook from Paul Buentello at UFC 51.

In comparison to the similarly themed Cage Rage release over which I recently cast an eye, the production is infinitely more slick, and the highlight-snippets better paced/spaced out, giving the novice viewer a sufficient window to digest who is involved, which guy is which, and suchlike. For this reason, "Ultimate Knockouts 4" could be recommended as an initiation point & familiarity tool for a recent (or indeed intended) convert, if the group's radically increased schedule & nature that dictates a fast fighter turnover didn't render this a moot point.

There is one decent selling point to this merry gathering for those of us who followed series one of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV, Bravo, or this here interweb thingy: the finishes of almost all the undercard fights from the Cox Pavilion finale are included in the final chapter, which you likely won't have seen if you found the outlay for the multi-disc DVD set of the entire series to be too extravagant an outlay. Triumphant debuts-proper in the Octagon for Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben, Nate Quarry, Alex Karalexis & Mike Swick are here in all their grandeur for the MMA completist on a more limited budget.

In short, given the nature of the beast, it's difficult to slap any kind of outright recommendation on "Ultimate Knockouts 4", just as it would be equally unfair to label it a red herring.

Points: 5.5 / 10

Stew Boyd

Buy It:

UK: DVD

USA: DVD