http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/14634/39/Dana White has declared that he is "at war" with Electronic Arts over fighters who might choose to sign with the company to use their likeness in their upcoming MMA title. White, who is the president of UFC, claims that those who choose to sign with EA "won't be in the UFC."
The story White is peddling claims that when he spoke with EA about the possibility of a UFC video gaming title, EA told him, "You're not a real sport," and that the company was not interested in the possibility of developing a title based on mixed martial arts.
Now, with the recent announcement that EA is developing a MMA title, the company wants to sign top tier MMA talent to have their likenesses appear in the new EA developed title. As we have already told you, our sources are confirming that MMA stars Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture have signed a deal to appear in the title.
While White claims that he has no direct knowledge of who EA might have already signed to appear in the game, our sources claim that many fighters have been contacted directly by EA, and these are fighters that in some cases have ties to UFC.
While White seems to be shaking the trees in an effort to do nothing more than boost sales, the actual numbers that the title has done since release are rather impressive for a title that was not really expected to sell all that well. Reports claim that THQ has already moved two million copies and they are expected to be well over three million copies by the end of the THQ fiscal year.
With sales of MMA video games continuing to climb upward and the UFC controlling the majority of the major talent, it is no surprise that White wants to discourage fighters from signing with EA. The sanctioning body does have a very good lock on the MMA world, and those choosing to sign with EA could be hurting their ability to book future fights. We don't think this is going to go away any time soon, and we suspect that much like professional wrestling, the war of words will continue in hopes of boosting sales.
