Ronda Rousey Joining Mortal Kombat 11 As Sonya

Mortal Kombat 11 will feature a surprising guest star. During the game's big reveal livestream event, developer NetherRealm announced that athlete and actress Ronda Rousey will be providing the voice for series staple Sonya Blade.

Rumors that Rousey would be voicing Sonya in the upcoming fighting game were circulating prior to the reveal. Rousey herself further fueled the speculation by sharing a picture of an invitation she received for the reveal event on Instagram.

"Sonya Blade was the first kick-ass girl that I saw come onto the scene, and I've always admired her and admittedly kind of emulated her in my own way," Rousey said during the stream. Rousey shares more of her thoughts on voicing the character in the trailer above. You can also see some gameplay footage of Sonya in action below.

Sonya is one of several veteran Mortal Kombat characters who were confirmed during the reveal event; we also got our first look at Liu Kang, Baraka, Sub-Zero, and Skarlet, who was originally one of the DLC characters released for Mortal Kombat 9. NetherRealm also revealed a brand-new character, Geras, who has time-control abilities.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Mortal Kombat game without an absurd amount of gore, and we got to see some of the inventive and gruesome ways the characters will dismember each other in Mortal Kombat 11's first gameplay trailer. NetherRealm also showed off some of the game's brutal new fatalities.

Mortal Kombat 11 launches on April 23. The game is coming to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Those who pre-order it will receive Shao Kahn as a bonus character. Ahead of the game's launch, NetherRealm will hold a beta for PS4 and Xbox One on March 28.