Electronic Arts is giving journalists a sneak peak at its upcoming mixed martial arts fighter, EA SPORTS MMA, on November 6th at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. According to the invitation sent to members of the press, the game will be made available in playable form to the media for the first time ever.
For MMA fans and gamers who can’t attend, though, EA will be revealing the first, official trailer for EA SPORTS MMA during the CBS’ broadcast of the Strikeforce event on November 7th.
On November 7th, Strikeforce and M-1 Global will be hosting “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers” at the Sears Center. Fedor Emelianenko, arguably the top pound for pound fighter in the world, will be making his Strikeforce debut against Brett Rogers. Jake Shields and Jason Miller will fight for the Middleweight Championship, and a number of other fights, including Gegard Mousasi vs Rameau Sokoudjou and Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva, are also featured on the main card.
The preliminary card fights begin at 6:00 PM Central and the main card fights start at 8:00 PM Central. Strikeforce will be showing the main card fights live on CBS.
EA Sports MMA is viewed by Dana White, president of the UFC, as a direct competitor to the THQ developed UFC line of video games. Strikeforce is considered to be one of the UFC’s largest competitors, particularly after they snatched up Fedor after the Russian Heavyweight legend’s contract negotiations with the UFC fell through. Also, it is rumored that UFC veteran Dan Henderson may sign with Strikeforce after failing to immediately renew his current contract with the UFC.
White has threatened numerous times to blacklist any mixed martial artist who decided to sign up to be in EA SPORTS MMA. Regardless, though, EA SPORTS MMA has had little trouble assembling a roster of reputable fighters. EA has announced that Fedor will be on the cover of the game, and that Miller and Mousasi will also be playable. Other fighters like Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock and Renato Sobra have been confirmed to appear in EA SPORTS MMA when it is released sometime in 2010.
With the final roster for EA SPORTS MMA not yet finalized, there’s still a lot of time for EA to add even more fighters to the game. College News devised a list of seven fighters that should be included in the game. Since then, at least one of them, Jason Miller, has been added to EA SPORTS MMA.
Our Take
Can’t wait for fights. Also can’t wait for the game. Will EA SPORTS MMA manage to take down the very, very awesome UFC 2009? Only time will tell, but I think it has a solid shot. Even without recognizable names like Chuck Liddell or Rampage Jackson, as long as the gameplay mechanics are solid, EA SPORTS MMA could still be a contender.
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