As time passes and the sport of MMA grows, one can quickly be overwhelmed by the sheer number of cards that come to pass each calendar year.
While time marches on, some of the best cards (for one reason or another, yet all reasons relative) seem doomed to be forgotten. It’s getting harder and harder to find shows from the past that retain the kind of quality that makes them watchable, and when you go to the UFC store, the number of past shows you can buy is quickly fading.
One can only hope that Zuffa will begin to re-release their back catalogue onto Blu-ray, for just as VHS was eclipsed by DVD, now DVD is being eclipsed by high definition, notably in the form of Blu-ray.
Thus far, the only whole UFC show to get the Blu-ray treatment was UFC 100, and while that was a wonderful present from Zuffa, there are still many cards that deserve to be preserved for the sake of history, not to mention the viewing pleasure of new fans who’ve never gotten to see Randy Couture’s first ever epic brawl with Pedro Rizzo, in addition to countless other great fights that are every bit as thrilling as those of today.
While it seems that Dana White and Zuffa have no real interest in releasing shows that have Blu-ray counterparts to the standard DVD releases, we can only hope. Blu-ray is here to stay, and eventually, regular DVDs will be a thing of the past.
In the spirit of that hope, here are some shows I believe merit the Blu-ray treatment. While many of us might not have gotten to see these shows live, Blu-ray is the next best thing, and like the sport itself, it’s as real as it gets without being there.