EliteXC: Destiny (DVD)

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VIDEO:
No major surprises here coming off of "Renegade." The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture on the main fights continues to look solid, if unspectacular. Blacks are mostly rendered well, though-with the exception of Vazquez's shorts-nothing pops on the screen. Not that is has to or should; I just expect some aspect of the picture to make me take notice, especially for a program shot and broadcast in high definition.

In a couple fights on disc one, a green flash jumps onto the screen for no apparent reason. It happens in Loiseau vs. Villasenor and then again in Shamrock vs. Gracie. I can only assume they stem from the original transmission and could not have been removed in the mastering process. Additionally, in the bonus fights on disc two (originally broadcast online), the logos and advertisements on the mat have a strange pixelation around the edges, mostly where white meets black (such as the Showtime logo). It's not terribly distracting, but noticeable. I won't dock the video score because of the source and their status as extras. Just something I wanted to point out.

AUDIO:
Again, the audio specs are a clone of those found on the later match release. A simple English 2.0 track is present, doing what it has to do in order to bring the event to life. There's no noticeable hissing or audio interference (as there was in the extras on "Renegade") while the punches land with just a little more audible force than last time out. The announcers are only drowned out once or twice in various matches due to the audience reactions, but it is to be expected in a live event. It would have been nice to have the announcing team turned up a notch or the audience down a bit in the mastering process; not a major problem, though. No subtitles are present.

EXTRAS:
Take the "Renegade" extras disc, change some names and we have the "Destiny" extras. Foremost are five undercard fights, as I've already mentioned. They are all presented in fullscreen ratio and don't run as long as the main events. The fifth bonus fight, Chris Gates vs. Riki Fukuda, is the most embarrassing-for Gates. Clocking in at 36 years old, he goes down within 80 seconds of the opening bell. Props to him, though, for taking the fight: he only had five days notice.

A series of twenty text-based fighter biographies is next on the list, followed by Behind the Scenes videos of five different fighters: K. J. Noons, Charles Bennett, Gina Carano, Renzo Gracie and Frank Shamrock. Carano carries two videos, with Noons at five and rest of the fighters have six. None is more than two and a half minutes and has the same general quality as the bonus fights.

Lastly, a series of image galleries ("Promo Images," "Training," "Talent Meetings," "Weigh In," "Fight Stills" and "After Party") are accounted for, along with a text screen of the rules and the fight glossary, the latter two of which are carried over from the "Renegade" disc.

PARTING THOUGHTS:
What is there to learn from MMA? For starters, if your nose is bleeding, don't blow the blood out. There's a chance it could go into the eye socket, causing more problems. A knee to the back of the head is strictly off limits and gets a fighter disqualified from the event. And the guy wearing pink isn't always a push over. Seriously, though, "Destiny" is strictly for the fans, more so than "Renegade." This production is a sport trying to find its feet, something I hope it does before making the leap to CBS later this month.

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