Today the battle between Electronic Arts and the UFC/THQ got more heated as it was announced that UFC legend Randy “The Natural” Couture would be co-headlining EA’s upcoming EA Sports MMA. Randy will be accompanying the beast that is Fedor Emelianenko as the cover athletes for the game.
The news that Randy is involved with the game shouldn’t be that much of a surprise since Randy first hinted that EA was doing an MMA game while he was doing an interview for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, which Randy appeared in. It was just a question of whether Randy would be assuming a John Madden like role in the game serving as an announcer and face for the game or if he would be a fighter. Since the image EA released today has Randy wearing his gloves and shorts I guess that means we’ll see the man doing what he does best: beating fools up.
I wonder what UFC president Dana White has to say about Randy’s involvement with the game since awhile back he said that any fighters who would appear in EA’s game would be blacklisted from ever fighting in the UFC. But considering Randy’s stance towards licensing out his likeness and his history with the UFC I’m sure he’s given carte blanche to do whatever the hell he wants to do. And if Tito Ortiz can come back to the UFC after the very public spat the he had with Dana over the past few years then I’m sure Randy will be safe.
So does Randy’s involvement with EA Sports MMA give it some more credibility that the game could be good or will THQ’s UFC Undisputed 2009 and upcoming 2010 installment still be the go to title for MMA goodness? If EA announces the game will feature female fighters headlined by Gina Carano then I think the game has a chance of succeeding or at least holding its ground against the superb game that is UFC Undisputed.
But ultimately is there enough room for two MMA games to be on the market or will this end up being a case of Madden vs. 2KFootball all over again?
Competition is always good so let them compete. Lets see which game is going to be the best MMA fighter game.
Interesting,EA is certainly stepping up as Fedor and The Natural are awesome fighters.Im excited to get both anyway.
Things sure are heating up in the MMA Video game world. I was wondering if anyone was gonna "defect" to EA and he we go
If MMA is as sexy looking as fight night I will be on board 100%
Put in Gina Carano and other female MMA fighters and im sold.
Things have indeed gotten much more interesting.