EA Sports MMA signs deal with STRIKEFORCE

Electronic Arts has signed the mixed martial arts fight promotion, STRIKEFORCE, as a premier league in the upcoming EA SPORTS MMA video game. In addition, Brett Rogers and Jake Shields, both of whom will be competing in the STRIKEFORCE and M-1 Global co-promoted fight on November 7 (broadcasted live by CBS), join the EA SPORTS MMA roster of fighters.

The partnership will see the STRIKEFORCE cage and the league’s commentary team of Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo, as well as ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., be incorporated into the game. Martial arts referee “Big John” McCarthy will preside over the in-ring action as well. Also slated to appear on the fighter roster for EA SPORTS MMA are STRIKEFORCE stars Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. Miller and Lawal were announced via a video last month during their visit to the development studio.

EA SPORTS MMA will be available on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in 2010.

CrimeCraft gets in the MMA fight as a sponsor

Vogster Entertainment and MMA marketing firm SuckerPunch Entertainment have announced that CrimeCraft will be the focus of two mixed martial arts (MMA) sponsorships. The first is the sponsorship of fighter Mike Russow in the upcoming MMA event, UFC 102, which airs this Saturday, August 29 at 10 p.m. EST. Russow is an active duty Chicago police officer currently assigned to the elite Target Response Unit, and brings his own brand of martial arts and law enforcement fighting skills to the octagon.

On September 4, Vogster will continue its sponsorship of fighters at Shine’s Fight Promotions, ATT (America’s Top Team) vs. the World, which airs on September 4 at 8 p.m. EST. The double guns logo from its MMO CrimeCraft will be prominently featured on the mat and on the two, top-ranked fighters: Anthony Morrison and UFC veteran Junior Assuncao, as they take on WEC champion Micah Miller and UFC veteran Gideon Ray.

Previously, Vogster and SuckerPunch Entertainment collaborated on match sponsorships that included fighter Jeff Curran for the Ultimate Fighting Championship 101 as well as the World Extreme Cagefighting 42.

Randy Couture joins EA Sports MMA roster

UFC president Dana White’s threats have apparently been ignored by Randy Couture, former five-time UFC champion. EA announced this morning that Couture will be a playable character in EA Sports MMA, alongside Fedor Emelianenko. Couture, who has had his fair share of trouble with the UFC and Dana White in recent years, will serve as a headliner and spokesperson for the game, alongside. Emelianenko.

On a related note, Couture is scheduled to fight at the end of this month against former Pride World Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. This is not Couture’s first foray into the world of video games - he was featured in EA’s Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 as Commander Warren Fuller.

Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron, another high-profile fighter, will also join the EA SPORTS MMA roster. Hieron currently holds a 17-4, fights out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and was the last Welterweight Champion of the International Fight League. He will be taking on Jesse Taylor in tonight’s STRIKEFORCE fight on in San Jose, California. EA SPORTS is sponsoring three fighters in the STRIKEFORCE event, including Jay Hieron, Gegard Mousasi, and Renato Sobral.

Fedor Emelianenko joins EA’s MMA game line-up

This week Electronic arts announced that top ranked mixed martial arts fighter Fedor Emelianenko has signed on to the MMA fighting game being developed by EA’s Tiburon studio. Emelianenko, unphased by threats from UFC president Dana White of being blacklisted from the UFC, joins Gegard Mousasi and Renato Sobral

As you may have seen, yesterday we announced the addition of Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s top-ranked MMA fighter, and Gegard Mousasi and Renato Sobral to the growing roster of fighters that will be featured in EA SPORTS MMA in 2010. Emelianenko is the current World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion and the last fighter to hold the Pride Heavyweight Championship - an organization bought by the UFC in March 2007. Many consider Emelianenko the best heavyweight fighter in the world, though the UFC’s current heavyweight champion might have some to say about that..

I know i’d like to see Brock Lesnar take on Emelianenko under any banner - even in a virtual fight in a game. Chances are that won’t happen for quite some time if White’s proclamation is enforced.

Peter Moore on Tiburon’s MMA title

Perhaps Peter Moore is in denial, maybe he just doesn’t know, or it could simply be that he doesn’t want to talk about it, but the recent tirade by Dana White seems to have had absolutely no effect on the current head of EA Sports.

In a recent blog post Moore talks about EA;s mixed martial arts fighting game and even mentions his support of the old UFC games developed by Crave for the DreamCast..  but he doesn’t acknowledge the comments from UFC president Dana White who says that he is going to war with EA over signing his fighters to its game.

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UFC president trash talks EA over MMA game

UFC president Dana White is no shrinking violet when it comes to speaking his mind. In the past he has taken many of his top fighters to task in the public forum over contracts, pay and their attitudes. But this week he has a new target: Electronic Arts. According to mmajunkie.com, Dana White has told UFC fighters that if they sign on to star in EA’s upcoming MMA fighting game that they will not be welcomed in the UFC -0 in fact they will be blacklisted.

White’s anger with EA, which he says he is going to war with over its new mixed martial arts game, stems from a conversation he had a year and a half ago with EA about creating a UFC fighting game. Back then, according to White’s recollection, EA told him that MMA fighting was not a real sport and that they would not touch a product like that. Flash forward and EA seems to have a had a change of heart. Seeing the success of THQ’s UFC Undisputed seemed to have had a profound effect on them.

“I’m not tap-dancing around this thing or whatever,” White said in an interview with MMA Junkie. “I’m telling you straight-up, I’m at war with EA right now. That’s how I look at it.”

“EA doesn’t give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts. They made that very clear.”

Of course, to be fair, it’s not like the UFC is the only mixed martial arts organization in the world and it’s also not like THQ, makers of UFC Undisputed, have worked closely with White’s organization over the years. Prior to this latest game, THQ worked closely with PRIDE and Crave Entertainment was actually the first company to have to guts to make MMA games - back in the Dreamcast days.

We’ll follow this story as it continues to develop.

EA Sports gets into the pro fight game

Electronic Arts’ Tiburon studio in Orlando, is developing a mixed martial arts fighting game called EA SPORTS MMA, which will be available in 2010 on the Xbox 360 and PS3. EA SPORTS MMA promises authentic, intense action, a broad mixed martial arts experience and a vast array of top fighters and fighting styles from around the world.

“With Fight Night Round 4 set to deliver a knockout with industry-leading visuals and genre-defining gameplay later this month, I couldn’t be more excited to announce the expansion of our combat sports strategy with EA SPORTS MMA coming in 2010,” said EA SPORTS President Peter Moore. “Fans have been begging EA SPORTS to get into the cage, and EA SPORTS MMA will put them in control of the sport’s unique combat experience while finally, in an immersive interactive experience, capturing the raw intensity that has made mixed martial arts one of the fastest growing sports in the world. We’re ready for the fight.”

But the big question for fans that follow the sport is where will you get these fighters from? Pride? UFC? Ring of honor? And how will signing these fighters conflict with other MMA games like UFC Undisputed, which is licensed by THQ. We’ll try and figure out the answers to these and other questions this week. Stay tuned.