EA Sports MMA signs Strikeforce league, additional fighters
by Randy Nelson 
{ Nov 6th 2009 at 7:30PM } 
EA has announced a deal to feature the Strikeforce MMA league in its upcoming EA Sports MMA. The publisher also finalized contracts with two pro mixed martial artists currently fighting in Strikeforce, Jake shields (pictured, left) and Brett Rogers, to appear on the game's roster. Don't expect the signings to throw any fuel on the UFC vs. EA fire, however, as neither fighter has ever been on the payroll of UFC prez Dana White.
Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo, Strikeforce's commentary team, will also be recording voiceover for the game. It has yet to be revealed which, if any other leagues will be featured in the game, and if their own commentary teams will be included. Currently, we know that MMA referee "Big John" McCarthy and Strikeforce ring announcer Jimmy Lennon, Jr. will also lend their voices and likenesses to the title.
While locking up more pro talent and the Strikeforce license lends credibility to EA Sports MMA, we've still yet to see any hint of an actual video game apart from a lone screenshot released late last month. Hey, EA: You do know that, at this pace and given the nature of MMA, these guys could be retired by the time the game actually ships ... right?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Nov 6th 2009 7:33PM
They've got Fedor.
They've got my interest.
Discotheque @ Nov 7th 2009 3:22PM
Exactly. That guy is an MMA monster.
Turkey @ Nov 8th 2009 6:35AM
Fedor is good, I am not sure his style will convey well to a game as he is so relaxed but they should aim to pickup alot of the old pride fighters and not be be affriad to pickup some of the Japanese fighters such as Takanori Gomi , Kazushi Sakuraba Hidehiko Yoshida ( I have no idea if they have signed elsewhere or retired) , perhaps they should even have a legend section with the old favourites who dont posess a full set of mma skills so players can fight with the real risk a take down, or staying stanging will mean certain loss.
handlas @ Nov 6th 2009 7:38PM
They are showing gameplay footage tomorrow during Strikeforce.
Dave Bruel @ Nov 6th 2009 8:26PM
They should add some females to the roster. I suggest this girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k52QWFeP7OY&feature=player_embedded
calgaryalta @ Nov 7th 2009 12:47AM
damn that kinda makes that chick even hotter :)
Monica Dickey @ Nov 7th 2009 3:17AM
Brutal!
EA would probably have a more successful game if they used your formula.
2n @ Nov 6th 2009 9:28PM
I hope Fedor wins this Saturday! Saw a funny video with Big John McCathy on EA MMA's website. http://mma.easports.com/home.action
r4i @ Nov 7th 2009 12:07AM
They've got Fedor. thats what matters.... keep posting. Will be visiting back soon.
(http://www.r4ds.com.mx)
skyfire @ Nov 7th 2009 2:30AM
fedor, lol, signs with strikeforce to fight with a bunch of no namers.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 7th 2009 5:05AM
No namers?
I hate UFC fanboys and MMA noobs. They're usually ex-wrestling fans who think Lestard is the best fighter on the planet ... I'd say that Rogers, Overeem, Werdum and Silva are all as good as the UFC has to offer. Hell other than Noguiera Strikeforce has the two best heavyweights in the world in Overeem and Fedor.
Ben! @ Nov 7th 2009 11:04AM
Overeem's the second best heavyweight in the world? Because of what? Take a look at the list of guys he's beaten since moving up and explain.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 7th 2009 11:30AM
Ben
Yeah I've been VERY critical of Overeem for fighting guys like Sylvester and Thompson lately but you have to look at the guys talent and the entire body of work including his striking skills in K-1. Anyone who says that Overeem isn't one of the top HW's either doesn't know MMA or is a UFC tard. You can see the talent in his striking and grappling when he fights.
Ben! @ Nov 7th 2009 11:44AM
But you ranked him #2 at heavyweight in MMA. You don't include his body of work as a K1 striker there, nor can you include his run at heavyweight (which was pretty lackluster whenever he faced top guys). I believe he MIGHT be in the top 10 at heavyweight, but much lower than you have him until he beats somebody who actually matters. Buentello and Mark Hunt aren't near the top 10 at this point.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 7th 2009 12:16PM
Ben
I'm actually a big fan of Buentello and I'm glad he's in the UFC but that's beside the point. I never sad Overeem was number 2 I said aside from Noguiera that he and Fedor are the two best heavyweights in the world. He was also beating the hell out of Cro-Cop before Mirko had to withdraw from the fight because of knees to the groin. You see I feel that guys like Lesnar, Velasquez, Carwin, Dos Santos and even Rogers are all in that next tier because they don't have a body of work or pedigree of an Overeem, Fedor or Noguiera. He's universally ranked in the top 5 in all the subjective rankings out there that actually mean something. I stand by what I said and yes you can count his striking in K-1 (like beating the hell out of Badr Hari) as an indicator of his talent in MMA. I wouldn't be surprised if Allistair won the grand prix in December. I think Teixiera has a good shot to beat him as the Kyokushin karate fighter is grossly underrated but if he wins that fight he'll easily beat Badr Hari or Ruslan.
I stand by what I've said because I don't see anyone in the UFC other than maybe Noguiera beating him in a fight. It's wholly subjective and I think Allistair needs to stop wasting Strikeforce's time and defend the belt but I do feel he is one of the handful of fighters that has a legitimate shot at beating Fedor. The UFC noise machine is good at pumping their guys up to be the best in the world and downplaying everyone else but I don't buy into that line of thinking. Personally, I think Overeem and Lesnar are both likely on performance enhancing drugs but just judging Overeems skills he is one of the very best in the world. He dominated Badr Hari and Peter Aerts and was genuinely beating the hell out of Bonjaski before that slapping punch knock him down. Everyone knows Remy always gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the judging ... you need to look no further to his decision win over Manhoef in which Melvin dominated but lost a controversial decision.
J.Goodwin @ Nov 7th 2009 6:39AM
It's not a league, it's a promotion.
We'll see how long they can survive the curse of Fedor. Werdum still has some fight left in him. The heavyweight division has been the weak one for years, so it's hardly a useful comparison. Sobral was a worthy LHW champion, so I've got to at least respect Mousasi. Beyond that, there isn't much to talk about.
Strikeforce used to have a history of putting together "exciting cards" (full of one-sided contests that ended with knockouts or subs instead of decisions). You can't really play that game with titles, which probably explains why they ended up with so few title defenses in general. They aren't even starting to call the shots anymore though. CBS/Showtime is running it in the US, and M-1 is running everything else. When it's over, they'll sue Scott Coker for his bones (witness EliteXC and Affliction).
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 7th 2009 11:35AM
Scott Coker has been in the fight promotion business for over 20 years going all the way back to K-1 on ESPN2. M-1 isn't running any shots as they are only involved in the fights with Fedor. I'd say that Miller vs Shields is a very competitive fight and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if Miller won the fight. Affliction and EXC has terrible business practices and their models were top heavy from the start. They tried to jump up to the UFC's level in their first few fights and it's just not going to happen. Coker isn't doing any of that as he is just trying to book great fights. Saying he isn't in control anymore is just one of the dumbest things I've ever read.
Jonathan @ Nov 7th 2009 8:09AM
Retired or dead... whichever comes first.
rmjohnson124 @ Nov 7th 2009 9:58AM
even if the game came out today, some of these guys might be retired before the EA loading screens are done....why is EA the ONLY company that has loading screens to load another loading screen? Playing Tiger 2010, loading, loading, loading....what is it loading? EA's graphics are always crap....so what is taking SOOO damn long to load?
rmjohnson124 @ Nov 7th 2009 10:03AM
Wow....Johnnynumber5....self loathing isn't a good thing....as you are obviously one of those MMA noobs you mention hating....Overeem is ranked 14th as a HW....and Fedor has been ducking real competition since his Aug 2005 fight against Cro Cop...that more than 4 years in hiding...
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 7th 2009 11:55AM
Rankings are subjective but Overeem is actually ranked 5th in the only rankings that count ... wamma. http://www.gowamma.com/Rankings
Fedor hasn't been ducking anyone and only UFC tards say that type of ignorant garbage. Look at his previous three scheduled fights ... all against 3 former UFC champions. Yeah that sounds like he is shaking in his boots to me. Dumb ass. It's not his fault that Barnett got popped for steroids.
Tim Sylvia was in the interim fight for the UFC title against Noguiera before he came to Affliction and got beaten by Fedor in less than a minute. Arlovski had 5 consecutive wins against the likes of Werdum, Rothwell & Nelson & O'Brien. Are you one of those people with revisionist history who is going to say that NOW those guys are bums because they both got knocked out after Fedor beat them? You do know that 80% of the people Fedor beats lose their next fight, dont you? He takes their will and stomps on it. Everyone knows at the time he was supposed to fight Barnett that Josh was universally known as the #2 HW in the P4P rankings.
The UFC doesn't have any great heavyweights other than Noguiera at this point and Fedor has beaten him like a rented mule twice already when Noguiera was in his prime in Pride. Brett Rogers is in my opinion on the same level as the overhyped green prospects in the UFC like Carwin, Lesnar, Velasquez, Duffee and Dos Santos. Who else does the UFC have? Gonzaga, Kongo, Mir, Rothwell and Couture who moved down to light heavyweight ... thats really not that impressive of a roster in my opinion. The UFC hype machine is really good at pumping their guys up to be the best in the world but the truth is that their really not all that great. I'd say that Valeasquez and Dos Santos are both better fighters than Lesnar and Carwin and those two are fighting for the title once Lesnar gets over his bout of "mono" ... Only rabble rabble tards think that Fedor is ducking anyone. Even Dana White came out and said recently Fedor wasn't ducking or afraid to fight anyone.
Keep drinking the UFC kool-aid noob ...
xFenixKnightx @ Nov 7th 2009 12:44PM
"Fedor has been ducking real competition since his Aug 2005 fight against Cro Cop...that more than 4 years in hiding..."
STFU! You know nothing!
Johnny, you know better than to be arguing with anyone on a videogame blog about MMA. Just let them be.
specter999 @ Nov 7th 2009 10:16AM
Having worked on a number of Strikeforce events I can say that a big thing for them is putting together fights with stand-up fighters. While submission fighting may win fights, it's also kind of boring to watch. I wouldn't discount Rogers in tonight's fight either. He is a massive up-and-comer who hasn't lost yet. The big reason that Fedor is not a bigger name in the US (and hasn't fought as many fights) is that he refuses to speak or even learn English. A big impediment to becoming a star in the US.
Anyway, I've seem some clips of the EA MMA game and was quite impressed. They are using the same engine as Fight Night Round 4, all physics based. Graphically it's going to be one of the most photo-realistic games out there.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 7th 2009 11:05AM
As a big time MMA fan I'm hopeful that this game will feature a more realistic depiction of MMA than UFC Undisputed offered. Undisputed had bad collision detection, no unorthodox stances, completely broken ground game and extremely robotic movements and transitions. It was a good first effort and had an amazing graphics engine but it wasn't MMA in my opinion. It was kickboxing with terrible grappling and a random submission game. It also hasn't been supported with title updates, patches (one I believe), DLC or anything exciting to keep me into the game. Let me play through the career mode with BJ Penn instead of having to make a fighter and play with them.
I think if they can get fighters from Strikeforce, Dream, Bellator and Sengoku they will be more than stacked with fighters. It'll be for the hardest of the hardcore of MMA fans and not the UFC noobs who think's MMA is only UFC. They could also add in plenty of retired fighters as if they were in their primes (Kerr, Gracie, Shamrock, Severn, Rutten, Frye etc ...) and make for an awesome roster. There is also talent of up and comers (Lawal, Khalidov, Evangelista, Jacare, Rogers, Lombard etc ..) and established superstars (Mousasi, Fedor, Aoki, Shields, Overeem, Manhoef, Alvarez, Hansen etc ..) so really I can't see it having a weak roster (for a harcdcore fan anyway)
mat parker @ Nov 7th 2009 12:31PM
Overeem is in no way a Top 5 Heavyweight the only decent proper Heavyweights he's faced since moving up full time have either knocked him out cold or the roid monkey that Overeem is sent his Testicles1 running for cover poor Mirko.
Oh and WAMMA relevant?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH8K0bPc-BE&feature=related
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 8th 2009 2:55AM
I agree he's a roid monkey. But, he is still one of the best heavyweights and fighters on the planet. Only an idiot would deny such an obvious truth.
xFenixKnightx @ Nov 7th 2009 12:52PM
Fedor >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> All other heavyweights. All other fighters for that matter. His MMA IQ is insane. He has no weaknesses, people! He can beat your ass anywhere he wants. Standing or on the ground. He is a machine.
Heres an old fanpost I posted at BloodyElbow.com aka best MMA blog out there. Enjoy, http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/5/4/864395/fedor-lol-pics
Deaddy @ Nov 7th 2009 4:19PM
Wow, they're using Jimmy Lennon, Jr.? That dude has zero charisma or personality and looks like he has some kind of undead zombie eyes. Boo!
rmjohnson124 @ Nov 7th 2009 9:31PM
What is WAMMA? oh yeah, its a figment of Donald Trump's imagination and it disappeared in a puff of smoke when Affliction died. It's a title that existed for all of a few months and the belt might as well have been made by an autistic 3 yr old with crayons.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 8th 2009 2:54AM
Wamma is actually a good organization with a good cause ... organizations be damned the best should fight. No politics just rankings. Look at the people on the voting committee ... all reputable people in the industry. Noob.
rmjohnson124 @ Nov 7th 2009 9:36PM
Those retired fighters you mention would get creamed in their primes by today's fighters. Gracie won because no one was trained to defend his style....now that BJJ is basic stuff in MMA and every fighter knows it, Gracie would get beaten like Matt Hughes beat him...easily...same with everyone else you listed...
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 8th 2009 3:14AM
The fact is it would be cool to have them in the video game. Don't show your stupidity so easily. Oh and Don Frye and Dan Severn are still kicking ass and taking names against these whipper snapper MMA noobs ... Bas Rutten is one of the best fighters in the history of Pancrase (3x champion), MMA (former UFC champion 28-4 career record), kickboxing (14-1 14 KO) and is without a doubt the best analyst in the business ... not to mention he's a damn good trainer. Let's see you take one in the liver from Bas and then tell me he can't hang anymore.
The point seems to have gone over your head ... the point was that it would be cool for those guys to be in the game. If you've played the UFC you'll have noticed more than a handful of guys that weren't in the UFC anymore but were still in the game (because Dana owned their likeness ... not Couture though!) so it'd be cool to see some big guys in EA's game. It's not promotion based so there isn't any politics like there is with Undisputed.
Anyway ... I'll forget more about combat sports than you'll ever know so this is a complete waste of time. Another MMA featuring Fedor (I've created him on Undisputed quite accurately) would be great but what I REALLY want is a true high definition next gen K-1 game. They are just destroying that license by doing nothing but trash on the DS. Makes me sick because I want that game BADLY.
skyfire @ Nov 8th 2009 3:47AM
I don't think EA's game is gonna be any good. everything that EA touches turns to s*** these days. I'm not a huge dana white fan(he's a retard that gives new fighters title shots so earlier) but the ufc game is done quite well( very technical and challenging and fun) but would be fun to have classic fighters in the mix(maybe an idea for future DLC). but yea a K-1 game would be cool too.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 8th 2009 4:25PM
Hey I absoltutely loved Undisputed when it came out. But, the more I played it the more I realized it should have been better.
Here's my breakdown:
Pro's: Accurate UFC presentation, fantastic commentary, Out of this world graphics engine, decent game engine and virtually lag free online play.
Con's: Can't pick existing fighters for career mode (must create them! No BJ Penn career mode for you), Broken ground game (random transition blocks and stats don't matter when it comes to the mount exploit glitch), Fighter stats are all kinds of messed up, The game is static and not progressive (no changing on stats based on real world stuff), lack of title update, lack of DLC, no southpaw stance in the game (that means Silva & machida fight orthodox), button mashing submission game and to many random flash knockouts.
I'm not expecting much from the EA game but I'm just hopeful more so than anything the gameplay itself is more realistic and skill based than Undisputed. You don't need skills to use the mount exploit. I know that it was probably a tough game to make ... they had to do all the character models, build the engine and make it feel authentic. In that respect they did an admirable job for sure. I'm hopeful that Undisputed '10 will have more depth to it ... make my create a fighter go through the Ultimate Fighter and give me a feeling of living a life outside of fighting as well. The big money, the women the partying and all the decisions ... make that stuff effect my performance in career mode. Thats what I really want in addition to better grappling, wrestling and submissions.