EA passed on UFC game - Report

Dana White is making a Power Move. Albeit at the expense of the talent that make the UFC popular, this is not unlike EA's move of securing the Exclusive rights to the NFL & NCAA. Within that contract, what would be the reprecussions of a current NFL player lending their likeness to another football title? Would they be sued by EA? there have to be ramifacations outlined in an extensive agreement like that. So EA is basically about to dose of their own medicine.

Screw EA. Dana's right.

FNR4>>>>>>>>>>>UFC SUCKS

Dana should know that it's not EA he is hittin, it's the fighters! Now, the fighters are trapped. C'mon, UFC isn't the only mma org in the world, though it's the most famous, it's not the only one. UFC = MMA MMA =/= UFC Oh, and if the biggest assets of UFC like A.Silva, GSP, Griffin, Rampage, Evans, Machida etc. show up in EA MMA, I don't think Dana can ban them, they are just precious UFC assets that gives him money.

@Xavier your parents do have more of a right, but these guys have signed away their likeness to be used for money. I dont have much sympathy for them because they are earning a fair bit. EA is going to want the big earners. If you want the rights to your looks to sell who you want dont sign them away! It is sad fighters are in the middle but no one likes EA, they do wreck most things they get their grubby hands on. I can understand his anger with them. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

A valid fight between White and EA, that unfortunately pits the athletes in the middle or actually as pawns. Sadly, the ban itself might pass legal bouts in court, but it would of interest if a current UFC fighter were to take it that far just for the stage it would set - company vs company vs individual. EA, I've hated a number of EA decisions, this one is one that came back to bite them. Bad all around. As for athlete rights, I don't like any contract that says play ball with us or never play again, . . it means serious competition is lacking in the business, and a business should not own a person's likeness, their stage name yes, but my parents have more of a legal right to my looks than any company ever would or should, and that they can take to court, IMO.

Thank GOD for Dana White. You GO MAN! From an entrepreneur who had many doors slammed.

here s my suggestion to EA , Fix the Def jam series ,they ruined it after such a succesfull title like fight for NY. Make a mixed martials arts game with a def jam fight for newyork concept , who cares about naked man or not , it s the fight that we care

White makes a valid point however I do think he is overreacting and taking it out on the wrong people. Punishing future fighters for appearing in a game is just disgraceful. He should focus his energy on EA Sports and not the fighters that might appear in their game. Also, he should realize that EA has changed a lot in the last 2 years. Their staff members have improved as has their overall attitude as a gaming publisher and developer. Holding grudges is not a good thing for anyone. He can have his success with UFC and with THQ, but he should not make future fighters pay the price for his bruised ego due to past negotiations gone arwy.

UFC is a gud game, i would b happy to see more coming out!!

Undisputed is a great game already. they could just do like an online update of the current title holders and fighter status instead of making a new game every year. as far as EA MMA, if they ever push through with that, all i can see them getting is a lot of japanese fighters and or ex UFC fighters who can't compete at UFC level aymore. i dont think they'll be able to lure anyone out of the UFC to sign with them. Tim Sylvia should be the first one they sign cause with the losses he's suffered lately, im sure he aint got anything goin for him right now.

I'm not a fan of the game or the "non-sport", but I do believe that every (athlete?) should retain full rights to there likenesses, moves, cage names, and profit off of "their" hard work. I think it is extortion what White is doing, he wants to control the guys in the cage, like marionettes, sad power hungry moron is what he is. Plus, the UFC is way "WAY" over ratted!!!

i think dana white is doing this to maintain a good releationship with THQ. And i really wouldnt like EA getting their hands on UFC. I dont want to see a UFC game every year.

Dana's decision is really unfair for the fighters. Having them on other mma game would give them extra money for their license. Then Dana would ban them from ufc? That's pathetic. Taking it personal because you were once rejected with your offer. And to think about it, EA is not creating a UFC game, it's an MMA game. Dana can talk like this because there's no other league to compete with ufc. I'm not a pro-EA guy but to have other mma game with a good roster of ufc fighters along with fighters from elitexc, pride, etc would be epic. Imagine Brock Lesnar vs Kimbo Slice. I'm not assuming but IF EVER ea could create a better mma game, then I think that's good for gamers. Dana is being short minded and only thinks for himself and UFC.

Ok, maybe Dana white is greedy, like most people who are in positions such as him, it's stupid blame him cheating fighters with bad deals or contracts. I say that because they have much better deals and contracts because of where he has taken the sport. I am not aware of any specific confirmed instances of shady deals, but what I am aware of is that MMA has grown exponentially because of his marketing and overhaul of the ufc in order to legitimize it. All this he did at considerable financial risk because mma was still just a fringe sport and thought of as human cockfighting by the mainstream. Hate him if you want, maybe he is a crook, but also thank him if you're a fan of MMA, because the sport has grown because of him,

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Dana White: "But let me tell you what--I've been in the trenches for almost 10 years, ..." - Yeah, let me take the time to feel sorry for a millionaire because sitting in meetings is such hard work. The fighters are the ones in the trenches training and fighting, while this guy rips them off. Give me a break. "We put our asses on the line, THQ and the UFC, to make a video-game deal in the worst economy in the world," - Really? The U.S. has the worst economy in the World? Plus, this deal was done before the economy went in the toilet. This guy is an idiot. ellez has a good point about EA too. I don't know who I like less, Dana White or EA. They both suck. Edit: By the way, I am not knocking the UFC, just the jackass in charge of it.

What Dana White is saying EA did / said sounds exactly like something EA would do / say. I believe him, and I say good for him for cutting off EA's lifeline here.

Dana White is kindve a goof but if what he says is true(and I don't doubt it is in this case) then ya EA can shove it. I would imagine they will make one mma title and then give up because UFC:Undisputed is already one hell of a game, and not too many people will want an mma game without any reputable fighters.

EA is a business so obviously they only care about the money, thats why they got the nfl license. But saying that mma is not a sport is totally a personal shot at white and everything he's done with the ufc. Good for him standing up to the giant company, and taking pride over money.

Why is everyone protecting EA? You guys act like EA is an innocent company. The same company that bought out the NFL license to get rid of the upcoming popular NFK2k series. White did this to protect what he had built, I dont blame the guy.

Whoever is saying that dana is holding back the fighters doesn't know what their talking about. If it wasn't for Dana a lot of fighters wouldn't be able to do this full time. The amount the man has done for the sport deserves the respect that when some company comes around and tells not only Dana, but the rest of the MMA world your not a sport that they should steer clear. Dana is a bigger asset to the fighters then EA ever will be.

I bet that if Fedor signed with EA's game that he'd still try getting him into the UFC

Thats incredibly sad. Dana white should be ashamed. EA may have been pigheaded enough to say UFC is not a sport, but to be even more pigheaded than them and hold tyranny over ufc's fighters... thats downright shameful.

What a pathetic world.

I like this MMA game comming out i can finally be fighters like fedor booby lashley or bob sapp etc....

Ms.Dana White, EA is in the video games business and you are not, secondly as proven so far games do sell no matter what so you crafting some kind of hail mary deal is nothing special.

That suck EA didnt want this game and dont want anything to do with it coz its not a real sport , now that its making money it became a real sports.I guess to EA "sports" anything that makes money is sports

EA always wants a piece of the pie, when they know the pie is worth getting and as EA knows names do help sales (NFL) a lot so we'll see what EA will do now. As for not wanting to take risks on a possible bad game (first they make the games) like they did with Arena Football, EA had a 4-year exclusive deal with the Arena Football League so they don't really care about risks

@ xstaggerxleex, they dont make cod, they make battlefield

EA might be garbage for saying that mma isn't a real sport, but dana's worse for claiming to be a man of the sport and then screwing his fighters over at every turn. He's a tyrant.

The game is awesome so EA is regretting it now.

In defense of EA they took a hit on some crappy sport games and probably werent sure about doing a UFC game and have it fail too. Look at the stupid Arena football game that didnt amount to anything.

Good for you UFC, EA is a disgrace,

knowing this now I totally back Dana first I was pissed off with him but now all I can say is "well done Mr. White!". But the best was UFC game developed by EA which is by far a better sports developer than THQ. But the best ever would if the UFC game was done by Sony we all saw what they achieved with MLB The Show this year!

I hated EA' s actions based on this story. To be honest, I'm really glad that THQ made the game and not EA. I'm sure it would have not been as good as the THQ if EA made it.

Peter Moore is a puppet. He only recognizes what he's paid to say.

I'm actually glad that THQ made the UFC game because the first game in an EA series is usually terrible. Seriously, EA's boxing games didn't become good until they rebooted the whole series. Knockout Kings was terrible.

Peter Moore was probably the one to make EA Sports recognize MMA.

Dana can be brash,but usually Str8 up,If EA Snobbed Them before with MMa is not a sport,,They got what they deserve,

Man I'm torn...I back Dana on this issue, but I really wanted to see the EA's game with legit fighters. I was extremely excited for UFC 2009, because I love MMA, but hate fighting games in general. Turns out, the game just didn't quite cut it for me. EA is known to make great sports games, but then again, an MMA wouldn't be the same without all the UFC fighters... So here's hoping that EA makes a UFC game for Dana and pay UFC ridiculous amounts of money to make it :)

@xstaggerxleex EA doesn't produce/develop COD, so what are you talking about?

How is Dana stupid? He is protecting what he and his investors built which others (promotions and EA) are trying to take from. Dana is a business man and it is pretty obvious he is good at what he does. If all he cared about was money then he wouldn't have gotten so pissed off at Brock for going off after his win on Saturday. He cares about the sport he has helped to build and doesn't want to let go of his beliefs. If everyone conducted business like Dana the world would be a better place instead of financially in the toilet.

bout time EA got a little bit of its own medicine... so sick of EA thinking they can do whatever they want... COD is all I want from you

wow ! Ea was acting like @$$holes.

I like how some of you think you know the law and believe that EA can take them to court over this.

maybe ea mma is going to be like def jam vendetta ea just wants to make money out mma because its booming worlwide

dana white sucks, greedy man

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Dana White has a childish side to him, as seen with his feuds with Tito Ortiz & Frank Shamrock, but I back him with this. Instead of declining the UFC's offer, they made comments such as "It isn't a real sport". This is payback.