UFC to blacklist fighters who sign with EA MMA?

D

DMczaf

Member
http://www.mmascraps.net/2009/06/fighters-to-forever-be-banned-from-ufc.html

This disheartening bit of news first came from Golden Boy at the UG

"I hear that all mma managers were informed that if any of their clients not currently under contract with the UFC..... sign to be a part of the EA game.......the will forever be banned for fighting in the UFC."
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Sounds like a simple rumor right? Albeit from a pretty reputable source, but then later in the forum post, MMA Uber agent Ken Pavia of MMAAgents.com says this.

"It's true. And they told me want the word out."
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In any case, if 100% true, this just plain blows. So let me get this straight, if I am an up and coming fighter fighting for an MMA organization not named UFC. I have to turn down money that I could feed my family with, just for the very slim chance that one day the UFC may sign me to a contract.

Listen this could all be smoke and mirrors or it could be misinterpreted, but we can still discuss. What happens to current UFC fighters that still own their image rights like Randy Couture and Lyoto Machida? This is just mind blowing to me if true.
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Didn't they also tell that one guy if he didn't sign for the THQ game they'd kick him out? Sounds like a bunch of assholes.

edit: Ah here is a link. It was a fucking lifelong deal too. Even the major sports leagues only own you as long as your playing for them.
 
JBuccCP said:
Didn't they also tell that one guy if he didn't sign for the THQ game they'd kick him out? Sounds like a bunch of assholes.
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Yep. Welcome to a sport without serious competition.
 
JBuccCP said:
Didn't they also tell that one guy if he didn't sign for the THQ game they'd kick him out? Sounds like a bunch of assholes.
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They did kick him out. He ended up re-joining the next day after he decided to sign.
 
Lol not even Vince would stoop that low. THQ want to be the only MMA game in town it seems. Then again this could be karma for EA. I wonder if the UFC would say that for a non EA MMA game?
 
Normally I'd be pissed...but they're fucking over an EA sports franchise, so now I'm just full of anger and schadenfreude bliss and cupcakes.
 
The Faceless Master said:
wow, how times have changed.

back in the day, it was EA bending people over.
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To be fair this seems like it is the UFC itself that is doing this shit.
 
"The mixed martial arts world was shaken up this week when UFC president Dana White ejected former welterweight title challenger Jon Fitch and other UFC fighters from the organization, reportedly for refusing to sign a deal related to THQ's upcoming UFC 2009 Undisputed videogame.

But after one day, Fitch and fellow fighters Christian Wellisch, Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez all agreed to sign the deal and were reinstated.

Fitch gave Edge more background on the situation in a phone interview Friday: "Mostly, it didn't really have anything to do with the game, it was more or less the way that Dana brought [the contract] to us. It was a respect thing. He talked down to us as fighters despite the work we've done for them.'"
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So, you see, I have no problem signing away my rights, but just respect me when I do it, k?
 
Poor EA....all they have are a lock down on all major sports...how will they ever live....


If a fighter wants to complain about this, fine...if EA wants to complain about this, well Karma is a bitch ain't it...
 
Everybody knows that the UFC are dicks. Always have been.

Although it does tickle me that EA is finally get screwed in one of those situations after doing the screwing themselves for years.

Honestly all the big fighters that EA would want are too big anyway for the UFC threat to have any real power.

Fedor, Babalu, Ortiz, etc are either never going to fight in the UFC anyway or they are so big the UFC would sign them anyway. It probably effects sort of upcoming prospects if the rumour is true but those aren't the guys who would be able to sell the EA game anyway.
 
GodofWine said:
Poor EA....all they have are a lock down on all major sports...how will they ever live....
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All major sports...like ...American football and... uhm.... ...that...uhm.. you know, the....hrm....
 
EA's not getting screwed here. It is fighters who are not in UFC, looking to make some money. Interesting to see if Dana will blacklist Randy since they still are good friends, I think.

BTW, found this nugget from pastapadre.com, usually a pretty reliable source.

So far confirmed for the EA MMA game are Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture and likely Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi.
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I like UFC, but it would be good if another organization got some TV exposure and actually competed. The only thing is another organization would try to pay the fighters better than UFC to get them, but without the PPV money coming in, they would be losing money for atleat 2 or 3 years.
 
GodofWine said:
Poor EA....all they have are a lock down on all major sports...how will they ever live....
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What are you talking about? NFL is the only license they have on lockdown. Heck, even NCAA sports are open to others, no one else wants to pay the price for the license.
 
Ya see, the difference here is that they would have probably been paid by EA. I'm not so sure the UFC is paying them.
 
dskillzhtown said:
So far confirmed for the EA MMA game are Tim Sylvia
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TIMBAAAAAAA.gif



So is Ray Mercer confirmed also!?
 
EA will probably win the UFC license eventually, won't they? Because they're EA? Is it right to piss in the pot if you know they're eventually going to get the license?
 
Stoney Mason said:
Everybody knows that the UFC are dicks. Always have been.

Although it does tickle me that EA is finally get screwed in one of those situations after doing the screwing themselves for years.

Honestly all the big fighters that EA would want are too big anyway for the UFC threat to have any real power.

Fedor, Babalu, Ortiz, etc are either never going to fight in the UFC anyway or they are so big the UFC would sign them anyway. It probably effects sort of upcoming prospects if the rumour is true but those aren't the guys who would be able to sell the EA game anyway.
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A little OT but it was such bullshit that they kicked Babalu off the UFC while BJ didn't even get much of a backlash for doing the same exact thing.
 
It's probably best for MMA that one organization emerge as the dominant force, but the growing pains will continue to be unpleasant. From a fan's perspective, I think I prefer a few years of territorialism by UFC to the wild west approach that is still killing boxing.
 
I would say karma is a bitch. This news makes me smile after what EA has done to football games since being the only game in town. I used to buy a football game every year. I have not bought one since 2K was shut out. I can not stand the game play in madden.
 
EA should just put characters they already have the rights to in an MMA game. A Sim vs. Kane from Command and Conquer.
 
ShadyMilkman said:
And this is why MMA will always be a complete joke when it comes to competitive fighting.
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Compared to boxing or any other combat sport that Americans actually care about in large numbers?

It is what it is. The UFC is very popular witnessed by the amount of money they make and the amount of sales the UFC game brings in. The rest is sort of irrevelant imo but whatever.
 
THQ knows this license is a money maker, and the UFC gets paid for it. Both companies want as many people on the game since it makes them both money or each game sold. Seems win/win for each company.
 
I wonder if EA will sign "high profile" Japanese fighters to try and get a more hardcore audience. The sad truth is that most of the main stream names in MMA have probably already given their likenesses up to the UFC for their entire lifetime. Unless EA makes an amazing game that will spread like wildfire though word of mouth, it is hard to imagine this game being extremely successful even with the EA brand behind it.
 
GekigangerV said:
I wonder if EA will sign "high profile" Japanese fighters to try and get a more hardcore audience.
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They may but it won't sell any more copies of the game in this country although maybe increase it a small amount in Japan. Having a hardcore audience is a bit irrevelant when it comes to making money or selling the game to the masses.

They have to get big names like Fedor and whoever else if available in Affliction and StrikeForce and then hopefully build a good game. And even if all that goes well they will most likely get a small fraction of the UFC game's sales.
 
dskillzhtown said:
What are you talking about? NFL is the only license they have on lockdown. Heck, even NCAA sports are open to others, no one else wants to pay the price for the license.
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Doesn't EA own full rights to PGA, Nascar, and FIFA?
 
OldJadedGamer said:
Doesn't EA own full rights to PGA, Nascar, and FIFA?
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Definitely not Nascar, since the license will be in Gran Turismo 5. The other two, not sure, but seems likely.
 
I think EA might be done with NASCAR. Their license expires after this year and they aren't putting out their sim game, just that Kart racer thing.
 
Everything from the Incredibly deep fighting system(grappling, slams, submissions, clenches, strikes, kicks, etc..) and the great graphics to match the gameplay. Even the little details such as the announcers and hit detection was spot on. I can't wait to see what EA's game MMA can bring to the table, but as it stands now Undisputed reigns as champ in my eyes.
 
JBuccCP said:
I think EA might be done with NASCAR. Their license expires after this year and they aren't putting out their sim game, just that Kart racer thing.
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This or something close to it. The license was exclusive to EA for a number of years. (Never forgot Papyrus) but something seems to be going on with it now.

The EA Nascar games were pretty lame anyway so its a good thing.
 
JBuccCP said:
I think EA might be done with NASCAR. Their license expires after this year and they aren't putting out their sim game, just that Kart racer thing.
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If EA's license expires after this year and GT5 has Nascar in the game does that mean.......GT5 2010 confirmed?
 
shagg_187 said:
EA should moneyhat EVERY UFC fighter to sign up. That way, we shall see if they'll kick everyone out! Better yet, they should retaliate and create their own organization!
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those guys are already with UFC, attempting to sign them would probably lead to legal problems for EA and the fighters. This is pertaining to guys that aren't in UFC, but might want to be someday.

And the crazy thing is Dana probably means it. This isn't some bluff. He is a grudge carrying kind of asshole. I think Dana has done a good job getting UFC to where it is, but i have my doubts if he's the guy that can get it further to the level where it is legitimately seeing and respected along the lines of the NFL, MLB and NBA. Dana caters too much to the meathead affliction shirt wearing Rockstar drinking segment of his fanbase IMO.
 
AnnSwag said:
Everything from the Incredibly deep fighting system(grappling, slams, submissions, clenches, strikes, kicks, etc..) and the great graphics to match the gameplay. Even the little details such as the announcers and hit detection was spot on. I can't wait to see what EA's game MMA can bring to the table, but as it stands now Undisputed reigns as champ in my eyes.
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I think there is still room to grow overall and different ways to interpret the ground game. I think I mentioned in the other UFC thread somewhere that if EA were so inclined they could diversify the gameplay to include Japanese/Pride rules which would allow stomping/soccer kicks and take away elbows.

Also, is it a possibility to do a Fire Pro kind of thing and do fighters based on real people just name them differently and change up their appearance? Doesn't Konami do a soccer game that uses different names, but based on real people to avoid the EA copyright?
 
DavidDayton said:
Is the UFC like professional wrestling, or is it real?
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It's real, but you'll hear stories of certain fixed fights in the now defunct old Pride FC (a Japanese organization). I think Mark Coleman threw his fight to Nobuhiko Takada and "Rampage" said he was offered more money to throw his fight against Sakuraba than to actually win it (he refused the offer and tried to win it anyways to get his name out there). I think those fixed fights were influenced by the Yakuza and were the Yakuza connections led to Pride's downfall.
 
I'm really not surprised. When I heard they were requiring exclusive contracts to be in the UFC game, I saw this coming.
 
No one currently fighting in UFC, so that leaves...

Bas Rutten
Kimbo Slice
Gina Carano
Fedor Emelianenko
Ken Shamrock
Chuck Liddell(:lol )
Royce Gracie
Rickson Gracie (oh god do it!)


hmm... not bad options. I'd pay out the ass for Rickson Gracie v. Fedor Emelianenko.

edit: put in fucking Kimura as a secret character and I don't care if the game sucks.
 
God's Beard said:
No one currently fighting in UFC, so that leaves...

Bas Rutten
Kimbo Slice
Gina Carano
Fedor Emelianenko
Ken Shamrock
Chuck Liddell(:lol )
Royce Gracie
Rickson Gracie (oh god do it!)


hmm... not bad options.
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Kimbo Slice is fighting in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.

There are a good number of StrikeForce and Affliction fighters they could use to fill their rosters but most of them aren't really names to the masses.

Putting Randy and Fedor on the box cover though is probably their best bet.
 
God's Beard said:
No one currently fighting in UFC, so that leaves...

Bas Rutten
Kimbo Slice
Gina Carano
Fedor Emelianenko
Ken Shamrock
Chuck Liddell(:lol )
Royce Gracie
Rickson Gracie (oh god do it!)


hmm... not bad options. I'd pay out the ass for Rickson Gracie v. Fedor Emelianenko.
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Too bad Fedor would beat anyone in the UFC.

And I think Kimbo is gonna be in the next TUF :lol

Stoney Mason said:
Kimbo Slice is fighting in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.

There are a good number of StrikeForce and Affliction fighters they could use to fill their rosters but most of them aren't really names to the masses.

Putting Randy and Fedor on the box cover though is probably their best bet.
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Yep plenty of talented folks outside of the UFC.....I think Vitor Belfort would be a good option too for the cover.
 
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