MMA/Boxing Documentaries

[wandshogun09]

Ha, Robinson is another UK Heavyweight I witnessed get battered in person. Maybe I’m a jinx? He got wrecked in seconds by the brutal leg kicks of Antoni Hardonk at UFC 80 in Newcastle.

[TibBo]

16 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

I was in attendance for that. UFC 89 here in Brum. Wain got fucking pummeled. I don’t know if it was just because I was in the arena but the sound Carwin’s finishing ground and pound was making was like none I’d ever heard before. It can’t all be because I was in the crowd either because I remember Rogan saying the thud of the punches on the ground was the loudest he’d heard and it sounded like someone was “dropping rubber mallets” on the canvas ?

I was there too. I remember the crowd being quite quiet in places, but I think it may have been because they were selling these little earpiece/headset things where you could listen to the live commentary while watching the fights.

[wandshogun09]

I remember that yeah. It probably did play a part in the crowd not making as much noise. Although I remember that card feeling like a bit of a long night with a fair few of the fights going the distance. Still had its bright spots though. I remember the Chris Lytle vs Paul Taylor (remember him?) fight being a belter. Plus you had a good Sam Stout vs Terry Etim fight, the UFC debuts of both Jim Miller and Dan Hardy and there was an Akihiro Gono entrance which always adds points to a card’s overall quality. 

Edited July 12, 2025 by wandshogun09

[TibBo]

Paul Taylor was amazing! Non-stop action and his record really doesn’t do him justice at all. He’s one of those guys that came along a little too early, and would have probably benefitted from the lighter weight classes they introduced.

I hadn’t looked at that card for years, but there’s some great fighters on there. I miss the days when I actually knew at least one of the fighters in every fight. 

[Egg Shen]

Crikey, Paul Taylor. Forgot all about him, he was pretty much a UK-Chris Lytle (who he fought). He retired from the game quite young, and on a win in the UFC, wonder what became of him. This game is unforgiving, it passes by quickly.

[wandshogun09]

Taylor had great fights with Sam Stout (which I recall thinking Taylor won at the time) and Paul Kelly as well. Kelly was another one who could be exciting but he was flawed and apparently went into drug dealing when his MMA career petered out.

Taylor was supposed to fight Anthony Njokuani on the second (and last) Birmingham card but it got cancelled. I was gutted, would’ve been a banger. I seem to recall Taylor being absolutely plagued by injuries at the end of his UFC run and that’s probably why he retired relatively early. He went out on a positive though, just looked up his record and his last ever fight was at UFC 126 (on the undercard of Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort) and he knocked out Gabe Ruediger. 

14 minutes ago, TibBo said:

Paul Taylor was amazing! Non-stop action and his record really doesn’t do him justice at all. He’s one of those guys that came along a little too early, and would have probably benefitted from the lighter weight classes they introduced.

Yeah I think he’d have also benefitted from better and more advanced training if he’d come along later as well. Back then it was the Wild West. If he was around and young now, the training available might’ve seen him train smarter and avoid so many of those injuries, plus he might’ve developed a more well rounded overall game. Being a Midlands fighter, he’d have probably ended up at Team Renegade with the Edwards brothers is my guess.

[TibBo]

He was training/coaching at a place in Cannock when I met him during his UFC stint. Definitely thought he was on the losing-end of some biased decisions, but I was a fan so didn’t know if I was being fair either. He was an absolute buzzsaw though.

He would have benefitted greatly from UFC using the PRIDE scoring system. Imagine Gomi Vs Taylor!

I really miss the days when the skills were a bit more unmatched, and people were more of a specialist in one discipline, rather than everyone being good at everything.

[jimufctna24]

4 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Taylor had great fights with Sam Stout (which I recall thinking Taylor won at the time) and Paul Kelly as well. Kelly was another one who could be exciting but he was flawed and apparently went into drug dealing when his MMA career petered out.

Taylor was supposed to fight Anthony Njokuani on the second (and last) Birmingham card but it got cancelled. I was gutted, would’ve been a banger. I seem to recall Taylor being absolutely plagued by injuries at the end of his UFC run and that’s probably why he retired relatively early. He went out on a positive though, just looked up his record and his last ever fight was at UFC 126 (on the undercard of Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort) and he knocked out Gabe Ruediger. 

Yeah I think he’d have also benefitted from better and more advanced training if he’d come along later as well. Back then it was the Wild West. If he was around and young now, the training available might’ve seen him train smarter and avoid so many of those injuries, plus he might’ve developed a more well rounded overall game. Being a Midlands fighter, he’d have probably ended up at Team Renegade with the Edwards brothers is my guess.

I was thinking recently about how the top MMA fighters from yesteryear would fare in today's more advanced sport. For example, I'm of the belief that Fedor's skills, such as his athletic gifts (cardio, foot and hand speed, etc), ability to learn and master an array of techniques, and ability to execute clever gameplans would transfer over to today's game. 

The only differences would be, in my view, that he would probably have to drop some techniques that are perhaps no longer as effective and learn new techniques (calf kicks, etc), and that he would probably train his body a bit differently (PED use and testing has evolved, gym work, etc). There is also a chance he'd fight at 205lbs rather than heavyweight. But he would still be a top fighter in my opinion. His best performances still hold up today.

Regarding MMA training in the UK. I read an interesting theory recently that if Catch Wrestling had taken off (think Billy Robinson and co), our area of the world would have produced fighters primarily known as ground specialists with their own unique techniques (or at least techniques not commonly used), who would then have to round out their game. 

 

[METAL ON METAL]

On 7/11/2025 at 5:14 PM, wandshogun09 said:

I vaguely recall someone on here knew De Fries. I’m thinking it was @METAL ON METAL back when he was a regular in the MMA threads but might be wrong? 

I rolled with him a couple of times years back, incredible grappler.

He’s friends with some of my mates, so used to run in some of the same circles. Haven’t seen him for years now but he’s the nicest bloke with a brilliant BJJ mind, delighted for him with his success in KSW.

[Egg Shen]

That's great to hear. He's the proper unsung success story of UK MMA.

[Magnum Milano]

Assault in the Ring is on Tubi at the moment.

I can't recall if I watched this some 15 or so years ago or it was another documentary on the same subject. It very well may even have been talked about on the board back then too, because whatever doc I watched I'm sure was as a result of a post by Ebb.

I find myself torn when it comes to Luis Resto; he was clearly being manipulated by Panama Lewis, yet was lying to the documentary maker and only came clean here when he uncovered some tapes and transcripts from a Detective. And even after that, when he says how he wants to tell the truth to his family, he still can't be fully honest with them - fails to mention that his hands were wrapped in plaster for one and then he goes back and forth when it comes to the padding in the gloves. The man has clearly paid a heavy price, whereas judging by all the rings and jewellery Lewis wears, while he may not have been able to corner fighters any more, he's certainly not struggled financially. A carny to the end, he's telling Resto how he'll look after him when he gets back on his feet, when in reality he just want him to f*** off. Interesting aspect about how Collins Jr. wanted to fight again, and was reportedly even offered fights, but his father thought they would make more from a lawsuit so they never did. 

Edited November 15, 2025 by Magnum Milano

[wandshogun09]

Yeah great documentary that is. It probably was the same doc as well, I don’t think there’s been another one on the subject but I might be wrong. I think they tackled it in such depth that there wouldn’t really be any point in another documentary maker trying to cover it.

We’ve definitely talked about it somewhere on here but it’s probably buried in one of the old Boxing threads or it’s been lost over time.

I was fascinated with the whole story at one point and even bought the DVD from somewhere online just for the special features, which included the full fight and another boxer claiming Resto did the same thing to him and confronting him.

Still got it in amongst my MMA/Boxing DVDs upstairs. Not sure if you can even get it now but I think the doc’s been on YouTube for years. 

[jimufctna24]

For anyone else interested, here is the documentary.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2025 by jimufctna24

[jimufctna24]

The Eubank vs Collins documentary has been uploaded to YouTube. It's a good watch imo. 

 

[Egg Shen]

No MVP thread so thought id bang it in here, the BBC have randomly put a Ronda Rousey piece together, might be worth half hour of your time.