UFC President 'At War' with EA Sports over MMA Game
by Nick Breckon, Jul 13, 2009 11:14am PDTFollowing EA Sports' announcement of a new mixed martial arts videogame, a move that comes on the heels of THQ's successful release of UFC 2009 Undisputed, UFC president Dana White now says that any UFC fighter to sign a licensing deal with EA will be kicked from the fighting league.
"EA doesn't give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts," said White in a series of expletive-laden comments made to MMAJunkie.com. "They made that very clear."
White explained that the UFC attempted to court EA for a UFC-licensed game in the past, but that EA refused to meet with the organization.
"They wouldn't even take a meeting because mixed martial arts disgusted them," he said. "This wasn't a real sport. Boy, they got over that real quick, didn't they?"
Since its launch this May, publisher THQ's UFC 2009 Undisputed has now sold over 2 million units according to White. The game was the top-selling title in North America for May, selling over one million copies between its over two platforms.
THQ rival EA announced "EA Sports MMA" on the first day of June, promising a "vast array of top fighters.. from around the world."
In response, White bluntly stated that any UFC fighters that allow EA Sports to license them for its upcoming game "won't be in the UFC."
"We put our asses on the line, THQ and the UFC, to make a video-game deal in the worst economy in the world," he added. "We go out there and do this thing, and it's successful, and now [expletive] EA Sports wants to do a video game. Really? That's not what you told us a year-and-a-half ago."
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag for PC to come after consoles
DTS Headphone:X brings 11.1 channel surround sound to headsets
Xbox One policy change means loss of family sharing, disc-free gaming
Crytek working on The Collectibles for iOS








Comments
White is actually threatening that ANY fighter from ANY organization will be blacklisted from ever appearing (or reappearing) in the UFC if they give their likeness to EA. All UFC fight contracts already include lifetime rights to a fighters likeness, so that wasn't what was said or meant by White, anyway. Jon Fitch had a fairly public dispute over this very thing. By all accounts, Randy Couture is the only fighter currently associated with the UFC who still owns the rights to his own likeness.
It's sickening seeing White attempt to control the careers of fighters who aren't even currently connected to the UFC.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
You must be logged in to post.