UFC ULTIMATE SUBMISSIONS VOL. 2 (FSM 91; March 2013)

Information - DVD Region: Region Two - Distributor: FightDVD - Price: £17.99 - Other info: 129 mins - Release: Out now - Weblink: www.FightDVD.co.uk

These UFC highlight DVDs are hard to hate. And what's not to like? They feature the most furious Octagon finishes, chopped down to their exciting conclusions. That's a combination that should be impossible to get wrong - but somehow, Ultimate Submissions 2 makes the impossible possible.

It all begins so well. Jon Anik narrates the DVD, which instantly refreshes the staleness of what would usually be a Mike Goldberg-a-thon. The presentation is broken up into four categories, starting with Arm Submissions, where amongst others you'll see Joe Lauzon going buckwild in ripping dudes' shoulders to shreds. Next up is Leg Submissions, which may as well be called "kneebar all-stars", due to featuring three of Rousimar Palhares' savage patella-snappers, including the sick, suspension-inducing sub against Tomasz Drwal. Other examples of master leglockery are in Chris Lytle's rolling kneebar and Paul Sass' slick heel hook on Michael Johnson. Then come the Special Submissions: the cruel and unusual punishments, such as Paulo Thiago's small package d'Arce on Mike Swick, Chan-Sung Jung's fantastic twister on Leonard Garcia, Charles Oliveira securing the UFC's first calf slicer on Eric Wisely, Chris Lytle's crazy mounted triangle/crucifix/inverted armbar on Matt Brown, and a nice flying triangle from Pablo Garza on poor Yves Jabouin.

So far, so awesome, right? But here's where it all comes screeching to a halt. You see, the Arm Submissions section runs for 15 fast and furious minutes, Legs runs 16 minutes, while the Specials go for a cool 20. But then we move onto Neck Submissions - and it lasts over an hour.
You may not think that an hour of neck subs can drag, but this DVD will prove you wrong, especially when the first eight or so are all rear-naked chokes, including such thrillers as Randy Couture tapping Mark Coleman, and Mirko Cro Cop choking Pat Barry. Yes, it's exactly that kind of barrel-scraping that makes you wonder why they bothered adding so much filler, when this section (and the disc as a whole) would be light years better if they'd chopped 40 minutes off.

Still, the bonus features are three Gracie Breakdowns, with Rener and Ryron deconstructing submissions, including Silva versus Sonnen. Overall, this is undoubtedly a great DVD, but have the "skip chapter" button handy during the last section, because it really does go on and on and on...