TAPE 763
Quality: VG/EX
Length: 100 min (DVD)
INTERNATIONAL SUPER CHALLENGE - 3/16/98 (This is the infamous vale tudo show from the Ukraine
that is known for one reason and one reason only - it features the fight that led to the
only known death in MMA, that of Douglas Dedge. Despite the myths about this show, it's
not some low-budget show filmed in somebody's backyard. It's a full-on professional show
with doctors, refs, the whole bit. The way it was setup is a bit questionable though -
apparently the promoters were looking for mismatches for their Ukraine vs The World concept
and actually e-mailed people on newsgroups, offering up free trips to the Ukraine if they'd
agree to fight. That's.....questionable, if you ask me. This is true vale tudo - no ring
ropes, just a huge mat and basically no rules. Quality on this VG/EX, almost EX.)
Zaza Mindjia vs Alexander Ilukevich
Roman Gorbov vs Viktor Sorokin
Yevgeni Zolotarev vs Douglas Dedge (This is it, perhaps the most-infamous fight in MMA
history. The fight itself is pretty standard stuff, nothing that looks unusual at all.
Eventually Zolotarev gets Dedge down and lands a couple - bare-knuckle - punches to the
head and Dedge taps. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary whatsoever. Then, after the fight,
Dedge collapses and the doctors come to his aid. They do a tight zoom on his face and
you can clearly see that he's gone, though he apparently actually died as much as a month
later. After they take him out on a stretcher, the video switches to this odd music
that makes it seem like some art-house movie or something. Meanwhile, back in the arena,
they're running a fashion show of all things, and they intercut scenes of that with
scenes of Dedge getting medical treatment! Very weird and more than a little twisted.
Apparently, Dedge had been passing out in training sessions and maybe even before this
fight, but there was no medical check done on him beforehand. So they screwed up by not
checking him but otherwise there's nothing wrong with the fight or the treatment, just a
very unfortunate outcome.)
Dmitry Topchiashvili vs Artur Vornovich
Larry Parker vs Dmitri Eliseev (oops, the promoters screwed up and got themselves a guy in
Parker who actually is decent - so he pounds on Eliseev.)
Alexey Oleinik vs Clarence Thatch
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