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.
