A little later than planned due to a power cut in my house, it’s multi-man madness time again, but of the WWE variety this time around as they presented their annual Survivor Series show, broadcast live here in Britain on Sky Box Office, with Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker handling commentary duties.

The show began with the first elimination match, with The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre and Shaemus taking on Evan Bourne, Finlay, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison. This proved to be a very good opener, with plenty of solid, fast paced action throughout, and some good performances, particularly from McIntyre and Shaemus. There was a bit of drama halfway through when referee Scott Armstrong took an inadvertent hit during a mass brawl. When the ring cleared he gave the “X” sign immediately, and was quickly replaced by the ringside official. Team Miz were victorious here. With Morrison the last man from his squad, Shaemus took him down with his crucifix slam to get the winning pin, with Miz and McIntyre the other survivors. Nice to see that they’re giving my fellow Europeans the chance to shine.

The grudge match between Batista and Rey Mysterio was up next. This was a well played out encounter, an emotional David v Goliath battle between the former friends. Batista is really starting to come into his own again as the powerful heel, while Mysterio played the plucky underdog to perfection once again. Big Dave was a real animal here, never going for a pin as he took Mysterio out with several variations of the power bomb, with the referee stopping the match when he saw that Mysterio had taken too much punishment. The carnage didn’t end there though. As Mysterio was being treated in the ring, Batista came back in, and took him out with a spine buster onto a steel chair. The Animal was content with his work, while Mysterio was carried away on a stretcher.

Then it was back to elimination action, with C.M. Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase and Randy Orton facing Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry, Christian and R-Truth. This one was contested at a much slower pace. Thankfully, Orton took Henry out early on, which only improved the proceedings here. Those left behind put on a great series of exchanges, and when it got down to Kingston against Punk and Orton, you just knew that something special was going to happen. Orton left Punk to take out Kingston as he prowled the ringside area, and after an extended period of punishment, Kingston pinned his former tag team partner by reversing a roll up, before quickly getting the pin on Orton after taking him out with his trouble in paradise kick. A great performance from the African star here, and nice to see that they’re really pushing the boat out for him by having him go over Orton.

The first title match of the evening followed, with the Undertaker defending his World title against Chris Jericho and the Big Show. Great action throughout this one, with the storyline dissention between the Unified Tag Team Champions played out to perfection, adding an extra dimension to a match that was slow to start off with but built up nicely until the Undertaker countered the Big Show’s choke slam attempt with his hell’s gate submission hold, with the big man tapping out moments later. Good work all round.

Diva time next, with Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Alicia Fox, Layla and Jillian Hall taking on Mickie James, Melina, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim and Eve Torres. This was an okay match, but it felt like it was nothing more than filler material. There were also quite a few moments when the action was less than stellar. The first few eliminations came quickly, with the action slowing down a little when it came down to McCool against Melina and James. Melina and James came out on top here, with Melina pinning McCool after a sunset flip power bomb.

The final match of the show saw John Cena defending the WWE title against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. This was an outstanding match. When Michaels took out Triple H at the beginning with sweet chin music, you knew what kind of match was going to follow. All three men put in tremendous performances here, worthy of it’s spot on the card, with a tremendous story and twists and turns everywhere. It really was every man for himself in this one. The end came when Michaels took out Triple H with sweet chin music for a third time, only for Cena to take Michaels out with the attitude adjuster right onto the Game, with Cena pinning Triple H straight afterwards. Outstanding, just outstanding.

In conclusion - well, if you take out the Divas match (again), you’ve got a damn good show here people. The two title matches were played out perfectly, while the fact that Drew McIntyre, Shaemus and Kofi Kingston were all made to look strong really bodes well for the future. Good work by the WWE team here. Now if only they’d sort out the Divas division…..

The prodigal son has returned, with Tito Ortiz making his long awaited comeback to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, facing his old rival Forrest Griffin in the main event of UFC 106: Ortiz v Griffin 2, shown live here in Britain in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The broadcast began with the preliminary fights, beginning with a middleweight encounter between Kendall Grove and Jake Rosholt. This proved to be a very good opener. Rosholt got a couple of big slams in, and looked good in the early part of the fight, but as is often the case the momentum changed in an instant, with Grove synching in an arm triangle for the submission win. Nice work from both fighters here.

Then it was the turn of the Australian lightweight, George Sotiropoulos, as he went up against Jason Dent. Although Dent managed to put in some good work here, the Aussie was just that much better in all departments, and as the fight progressed into the second round it came as no surprise when he got the submission win courtesy of an arm bar. Sotiropoulos really impressed me here, and I’m looking forward to seeing what sort of reception he’ll get when the UFC ventures down under for the first time next year. I’m also looking forward to George’s next fight as well.

Welterweight action followed, with the always watchable Marcus Davis facing Ben Saunders. Well, I say always watchable, but the Irish Hand Grenade had an off night here. Davis looked good early on, but it wasn’t long before Saunders upped his game with some great looking knees in the clinch, and it was a right knee that saw of Davis as Saunders secured the knockout win, capping off an impressive performance.

The final fight of the preliminary show saw more welterweight action, with Brock Larson and Brian Foster. With the UFC’s other famous Brock recovering at home after surgery, this Brock proved to be just as controversial with two rule infringements in the first round. The first came when he connected with an up-kick to Foster’s head while Foster was still on the ground. Moments later he connected with a knee to Foster’s head while his hand was down on the mat, which meant that he ended the round with two less points. Foster did well to recover in the second round though, and after a couple of periods of ground and pound he secured the TKO win. Larson had clearly been put off by what had happened in the first round, but as the old saying goes, rules are rules, and kudos to Foster for recovering in the way he did.

The first fight on the main show continued the welterweight action with Amir Sadollah facing the returning Phil Baroni. The former Ultimate Fighter obviously didn’t read the script here. Although the New York Bad Ass put in a good performance, Sadollah always seemed one step ahead as Baroni began to look tired in the second round. Sadollah’s kicks looked awesome, as did his clinch work, and it was enough to earn the unanimous decision from the judges, proving that these UFC judges can get things right from time to time.

Debut time next, with the other Nogueira, Antonio Rogerio, who for some reason is also known as Minotaur, facing Luiz Cane in light heavyweight action. Little Nog put in an impressive performance here, getting the first round win after knocking Cane down with a big left, before going in for the ground and pound. The referee quickly stepped in, giving Nogueira the TKO win.

After a replay of the Marcus Davis/Ben Saunders fight, more welterweight action followed, with Paulo Thiago taking on Jacob Volkman. This was an enjoyable back and forth encounter, and another one of those fights were both men looked good, but one man was just a tad better than the other. Both fighters put in some good work, but on the night Thiago was the top man as the fight went the three round distance, getting the unanimous nod from the judges.

Even more welterweight action followed the replay of the Kendall Grove/Jake Rosholt fight, with Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson. As with the Larson/Foster fight, this one will be remembered for it’s controversy. In the first round Johnson hit Koscheck with a knee to the head while he was down, losing a point in the process, but this particular blow left the commentators and those of us watching at home rather confused. Johnson’s blow connected with Koscheck’s right eye, but afterwards he complained of blurry vision in his left eye. It certainly left me scratching my head a little. Despite this apparent injury Koscheck came back well in the second, busting Johnson open with his ground and pound before getting the submission with a rear naked choke. Good work from Koscheck here. Sadly though we didn’t get the low down on his right/left eye injury during the post-fight interview, as Koscheck seemed more intent on telling everyone that he, and not Dan Hardy, should get a shot at the welterweight title next.

The main event saw the return of former light heavyweight king Tito Ortiz, as he went up against Forrest Griffin for a second time. A lot was expected of this one after their previous encounter, and this fight certainly delivered. Ortiz looked great in the early stages, showing absolutely no signs of ring rust, although Griffin was able to keep up with him. As the fight went on Griffin began to get into his stride, with his kicks in particular looking particularly devastating. Ortiz continued to look good as well, but whenever he took Griffin down and went for the ground and pound Griffin showed some great defensive work. But when the third and final round started, Ortiz looked like a completely different person, on the back foot for the majority of the round as Griffin was able to strike at will. So with the fight going the three round distance, the judges were called into action, and they gave the split decision to Griffin, a fair decision, because Ortiz was wilting badly in that final round, which was unusual for him considering his normally top notch conditioning. As for Griffin, it was a tremendous performance, especially considering the loss he’d suffered at the hands of Anderson Silva in his previous fight. The judges did okay too!

A replay of the George Sotiropoulos/Jason Dent fight rounded off the show.

In conclusion - well, I think it’s pretty obvious what I’m going to say here, isn’t it? This was another strong effort from the UFC here. The action was so good throughout that you kind of forgot that Brock Lesnar was meant to be defending his Heavyweight title against Shane Carwin on this show. The Koscheck/Johnson and Larson/Foster fights were a little disappointing because of the rule infringements, but overall it was a strong show with some strong action, so kudos to Dana White and the boys for this one.

It’s multi-man madness time again as we step into the Impact Zone for Total Non-Stop Action’s latest offering, Turning Point, headlined by A.J. Styles defending his World title against long-time rivals Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, and shown on a three day delay here in Britain on Bravo 2. As usual, Taz and Mike Tenay are handling commentary duties.

The show began with Don West’s number one guy, Amazing Red, defending the X Division title against Homicide. Yep, that’s right, we’ve got an X Division match on pay-per-view that only involves two men. I couldn’t believe it at first either. But anyway, as far as show openers go, it’s very good, with Red and Homicide showing some great chemistry in the ring, and West annoying the hell out of me with his constant shouting, sounding even louder than he did when he was on commentary. This nice little romp came to an end after Red took Homicide out with the code red. Very enjoyable.

The title action continued with The Beautiful People taking on ODB, Taylor Wilde and Sarita, with ODB’s Knockouts and Wilde & Sarita’s Knockouts Tag Team titles on the line. This was another example of just how much this division is missing Angelina Love. While Madison Rayne and Velvet Skye looked good as a team, Love’s replacement Lacey Von Erich didn’t really do anything. The match action was okay, but it wasn’t exactly awe inspiring. No title changes here, as ODB got the pin on Rayne after a big slam.

Sadly, I’m unable to review the next match, which sees the British Invasion defending the Tag Team Championship against Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns. Long time readers will know that this is because Nick Aldis, the man behind the Brutus Magnus gimmick, has threatened me with legal action if I say anything against him on the internet, which means that I can’t give any of his matches a truthful review. As I’ve said before, I’m not going to go crawling to the man begging him to withdraw his threat, but if anyone reading this wants me to start reviewing his matches, then just Google him and you’ll find out how to contact him.

Normal service is resumed then with Awesome Kong facing Tara in a cage match. This was a whole lot better than the other Knockouts match on this show. Kong and Tara are definitely the best thing about TNA’s women’s division at the moment, and it showed in this match. Great action throughout as we were treated to the great sight of Tara power bombing Kong off the ropes. The end came when Tara dived off the top off the cage and pinned Kong after what looked like a Lou Thesz press, although Tenay said it was a cross body block.

Six man action followed with Rhino and Team 3D going up against the team of D’Angelo Dinero, Hernandez and Matt Morgan. So when did Team 3D turn heel again? And when did the Pope turn face? You can tell I’m not a regular Impact viewer, can’t you? This one had a good storyline as Dinero tried his best to prove to Morgan and Hernandez that he was a good guy, even taking the bullet for Hernandez by taking 3D’s back suplex/neck breaker combo. This one saw Rhino getting the win after taking Hernandez down with the gore, ending an enjoyable match.

Falls count anywhere, no disqualification action followed with Scott Steiner and Bobby Lashley. This was another of those matches that left me scratching my head a little. From what I saw in the pre-match video package, Lashley had a damn good reason to hate Steiner, which was why the stipulations for this one were added at the last minute. Sadly, this apparent grudge match wasn’t actually that intense. The action was okay, but it was nothing special. There was a nice bit of brawling outside the ring, but if ever a match needed the obligatory brawl through the crowd then it was this one. Steiner took home the win here, pinning Lashley after clobbering him with a metal pipe he’d pulled off the scaffolding near the Spanish announcer’s table.

The match I was really looking forward to was next, as the artist formerly known as Nigel Mc****ss, Desmond Wolfe, took on Kurt Angle. My fellow Brit and former ROH Champion put on a great display here as both men played their part in putting on a technical classic, the kind of match we hardly seem to get on pay-per-view these days. The fans were right about this one, this was awesome, and I really can’t speak too highly about it, as Angle got the win after Wolfe tapped out to an arm triangle. Great work guys.

The main event saw A.J. Styles defending the World title against Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. If anything this was even better than the previous match, with all three reminding us just how great their matches against each other were four years ago when the X Division title was on the line. Tremendous action throughout, with all three men showing just why they’re so damn great. The end came when Daniels took Joe out with the BME, only for Styles to come out with a 450 splash to break up the pin and take the glory for himself. This was definitely one of the best TNA pay-per-view matches of the year.

In conclusion - well, this year’s edition of Turning Point had it’s good and bad moment. The Knockout titles match and the Steiner/Lashley match did leave a bit to be desired, but thankfully those matches I was allowed to review without the threat of legal action delivered, with the Wolfe/Angle and Styles/Joe/Daniels matches delivering in spades. So in all a good and enjoyable outing from TNA here.

It was time for the Brits to shine again this past Saturday night as the Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the MEN Arena in Manchester for their latest offering, with Randy Couture and Brandon Vera going at it in the main event of UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera, shown live here in Britain on ESPN, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The broadcast began with Ultimate Fighter 9 lightweight winner Ross Pearson making his UFC debut proper against Aaron Riley. This was a hell of a debut for Pearson, as he put in a dominating performance, controlling the flow of the fight from the beginning, with Riley looking very tentative. Pearson looked great in all aspects, and he probably would have finished the fight himself if the doctors hadn’t stopped it, with Riley having sustained a nasty cut, courtesy of a Pearson flying knee. Good stuff from Pearson here, giving us Brits another fighter to keep an eye on.

Then it was on to James Wilks taking on Matt Brown at welterweight. Wilks looked good to begin with, but as the fight progressed Brown really got into his game, controlling the fight and putting in some nice work. He may well have got the submission win with a triangle in the second round, but the clock was against him. Wilks looked exhausted as the third round started, and it looked like he was about to stage something of a comeback until a sustained ground and pound attack from Brown earned him the TKO win. Another very good fight, with Brown in particular looking great.

Fight three was the proverbial blink and you’ll miss it affair, with Andre Winner facing Rolando Delgado in a lightweight encounter. Delgado went for a few knees and kicks early on, but a big right from Winner sent him crashing to the mat. It wasn’t long before Winner unloaded with the big right hand again, and this one completely knocked Delgado out as he fell to the ground like a sack of spuds, ending a very impressive performance from Winner here.

Britain’s most popular mixed martial artist, Michael Bisping, was up next, looking to get his career back on track as we went up against Denis Kang in a middleweight bout. Kang came into this one with a big reputation, and many people thought that this would be a cake walk for the former Pride star, and he put on a good display in the first round with his ground game. However, Bisping proved to be his equal, quickly shaking off the right hand that had knocked him down to put on a tremendous defensive display. So having been on the defensive in the first round, Bisping went on the offensive in the second, scoring with numerous take downs. When Bisping went for the ground and pound after the second take down, Kang got busted open, and from there you could tell it was only a matter of time, with the referee calling a halt to proceedings when Kang failed to respond to Bisping’s final ground and pound onslaught, earning him the TKO win in what was possibly the best performance of his career.

The second blink and you’ll miss it affair came next, with Alexander Gustafsson facing Jared Hamman in a light heavyweight fight. This one began as a slugfest, but soon saw Hamman down on the mat after a Gustafsson right. Brief ground and pound followed, but Hamman was out of it by the time the referee stepped in. A short but impressive display from Gustafsson here as he earned the TKO win.

The big welterweight fight followed, with Mike Swick facing Dan Hardy for a possible shot at Georges St-Pierre’s title. This may have been the best fight on the night, a great encounter between two fighters looking to get that big fight. Both men put on a good display in an even looking first two rounds, with Hardy really upping his game in the third, showing some good stand-up and ground work. All in all it was a very good fight, with Hardy getting the unanimous decision after three hard fought rounds, and rightfully so. This writer hopes that he gets that well deserved title shot.

The main event saw Randy Couture returning to the light heavyweight division to face a man who had recently gone down there himself, Brandon Vera. To say that the Natural got a great reception would be an understatement. This fight proved to be a little controversial to say the least. Couture’s game plan was to use his wrestling skills against Vera, and this involved controlling his opponent up against the cage. If truth be told, Couture did a good job here, but it was in the third round that many thought Vera had won it, rocking Couture with his punches and causing damage to his ribs with several great kicks. But this just didn’t seem to be enough in the eyes of the judges, with all three giving the fight to Couture, which didn’t sit too well with Vera. Many thought that even though Couture had controlled the majority of the fight, the damage Vera caused in the third was enough to get him the win. And I have to admit, I thought Vera had edged it.

In conclusion - the UFC’s latest foray to this side of the pond proved to be a very good show, and a very good advertisement for how far mixed martial arts has come in this country over the past few years, with Ross Pearson, Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy all putting in great performances. As for the main event decision, well, we’ve had two dodgy main event decisions in a row now. Let’s hope we don’t get another one next weekend.

A little bit later than planned due to health problems (I’ve got an infection in the left side of my jaw! Send get well messages to the usual address), we’re now going to take a look back at the recent Strikeforce/M-1 Global Fedor v Rogers show, shown on Bravo here in Britain on a one day delay. Is the Russian heavyweight really the best MMA fighter in the world?

The show began with heavyweight action, two Brazilians going up against each other with Fabricio Werdum taking on Antonio Silva. This was a great way to start the show. Silva tried to keep the fight upright in the first round, scoring with some good shots as he tried to stay away from Werdum’s ground game. This plan worked well in the first round, but as the fight went on Werdum began to stamp his authority on the fight, taking it to the mat and showing some good ground work. Naturally, the fighters began to tire in the third round, but this didn’t seem to stop their progress, and with the fight going the three round distance, Werdum took the unanimous decision. Nice stuff here, and a very enjoyable fight.

Then it was down to the light heavyweight division, with Gegard Mousasi facing Thierry Sokoudjou. The great fight action continued with this one. Both men looked good in a first round that was fought at a rather frantic pace, and Sokoudjou in particular looked quote impressive. Sadly, the man from Cameroon couldn’t keep his momentum going into the second round, with Mousasi soon getting the win after some good ground and pound work. A nice TKO win for the Dutchman here, but Sokoudjou can also be proud of his efforts in this one.

The third fight saw Jake Shields and Jason Miller fighting it out over the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight title. This was the title that Cung Le recently vacated when he retired, an retirement that hasn’t actually lasted that long, as he’s making a comeback next month. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. We got a tremendous display of ground fighting in this one, as Shields put on a great performance, although his excellent work wasn’t to the liking of the crowd at times, as they rained down a chorus of boos as he went to work. Miller look good as well, but as the fight went on it was obvious that Shields was the better fighter, although he just couldn’t get that final submission move. It really came as no surprise that Shields got the unanimous title winning decision, and although his fighting style wasn’t to everyone’s liking, this was a fine example of how you can get an exciting fight without a big knockout punch of quick submission victory.

The main event saw Russian sensation Fedor Emelianenko facing Brett Rogers. It seemed that everyone thought that Fedor would get a quick and decisive victory in this one, but I guess that Rogers didn’t read the script, especially in the first round when a left hook from the big American bloodied the Russian’s nose. Later on in the round Rogers’ ground and pound almost got him the win, but Fedor eventually escaped, almost getting the win himself with an arm triangle. The decisive moment came in the second, when Fedor’s big right hand sent Rogers crashing down to the ground. A brief moment of ground and pound followed, before the referee quickly stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings, giving Fedor the much anticipated victory, and capping off another fine performance from the Russian.

In conclusion - This is by far the best Strikeforce show I’ve seen, and the best MMA show outside of the UFC I’ve seen this year. Four outstanding fights, and a show that finished on a high note as Fedor got the expected win. But that big question is still waiting to be answered - is Fedor still the best heavyweight fighter of all time? Well, I’m afraid that, for me, this fight didn’t really answer that question. Strikeforce may be giving him a bigger platform, but that question won’t really be answered until he steps in to the UFC cage.