During this year’s E3, EA announced EA Sports MMA, a new mixed-martial arts fighting franchise EA hopes will be a major contender against THQ’s UFC series. And while the tension is sure to ramp up once MMA gets closer to release, there seems to already be some preliminary rumbling going on behind the scenes.
Evil Avatar reports that the confirmed word on the street is that any non-UFC-affiliated fighter who signs on to appear in EA’s MMA will “forever be banned for fighting in the UFC.”
Given the critical and financial success of THQ’s recent UFC 2009: Undisputed, it’s hardly surprising that the UFC would want to ensure it maintains first right of refusal with regards to unsigned talent. Plus, UFC is the dominant force for mixed-martial arts, so if prospective fighters want the most exposure, there’s really only one place they can go. And I find it hard to believe that any young fighter would want to jeopardize his entire future just to appear in an EA-published mma game when he could simply appear in THQ’s game and fight on mma’s biggest stage.
When I contacted EA to find out its take on these reports (which could end up being quite an interesting battle if the UFC stands behind this policy), an EA representative simply said, “We have no comment regarding the alleged UFC threats to fighters as it pertains to EA Sports MMA.”
This response was to be expected, especially for as fresh as these allegations are, and for as potentially damaging this situation could be for EA’s new franchise. Expect to see plenty more about this whole mess in the near future.
Source
UFC Threatening To Ban Fighters Who Appear In EA Sports MMA?
38 Comments
Posted July 2, 2009 - By Jake Gaskill
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Comments
Displaying 1–20 of 38
122
big13lak
Another blow to EA, Im still going to play their game, but UFC is king!
Juicelee
I smell dana white all over this...
keniscool
Good stuff, EA is trash and they would just turn it into another Madden. No improvements because they own the license
Goldenarmz
thats....dumb.. on THQ/UFC part... if you want these guys so bad, why arent they signed to you? Why keep ppl out when they arent signed to you and can freely be part of other MMA games. Thats just silly. Hope has a way to sue those pricks
mrrwbrown
thank you UFC! am tired of EA's monopoly over the NFL and this serves them right imo.
ObSoL33tSNiiPer
wow UFC can screw off
jahlov420
EA is a bully. get them ufc
Bonzoso21
UFC Undisputed was decent, as a learning process and a stepping stone to a better game down the road. Since Peter Moore took over EA Sports a few years ago, their games have been solid, and I'm interested to see if they can offer a more robust MMA title than UFC...I'm not sure if this is just an indication of greed/spite on UFC's part, or if it shows fear on Yukes/THQ's part that they could be outdone.
dbeam308
I'm surprised Dana didn't make any mention of the fact that EA's MMA game logo looks a lot like the WEC/Wreckcage logo (WEC being owned by Zuffa, which owns UFC.)
Tman88
@mrrwbrown
Exactly.
jdiggitty
Guys, this has nothing to do with screwing EA. They're screwing the fighters by limiting their licensing ability and exposure. Frankly, its a pretty dick move. It like if the NBA banned European players for signing a contract with Adidas. Its just petty.
SacTownSharksFan
EA Sports World Extreme Cagefighting
FailStation3
good call dbeam308
Covertleader
EA should release a special edition or a Lengends of MMA game featuring the past greats of MMA those who don't appear in THQ Undisputed fighter. A game featuring the Gracies, Shamrocks and Tank Abbott would sell more dics. Those legends mentioned were true warriors of the then new sport who all fought without rules and weak ass weight classes. Also the past fighters are no longer contracted to adhere to the gestapo esque policies held by the UFC.
deathspellomega
I know that EA is sometimes seen as a bully but it still isn't right that UFC would fire or refuse to hire all who appear in MMA. Its not fair to the fighters and its not fair to us!
MeOnFire
UFC has gone to crap anyway. Sad to watch now. Most of the good fighters have gone elsewhere. It seams that most of it's new fighters are comming from it's crap reality show. It was good back in it's day but now it's like the stuck up bitch of the MMA world. Any other MMA is better then this.........to me anyway. :)
Trikkey
Karma is a bitch huh.EA has monopolized illegally imo the NFL license now its coming back to call as others have stated before me.I dont hate EA but I strongly disagree with the NFL monopoly!
Trikkey
Then again that being said I could care less about a ufc type game so i dont care anout either game.
this1
funny to watch the trolls squabble over rumors that haven't been confirmed...
I dont think its a good move (if its true) on UFC's part, but on the other hand, I haven't bought an EA sports game other than fight night in years anyways, because they're so repetitive anyways. Do they even need an MMA game?
backerman
EA can have Kimbo Slice. Go UFC!
Displaying 1–20 of 38
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