EA Sports MMA Reveals Lightweight and Welterweight Rosters

For MMA fans eagerly anticipating the launch of what could be the next great MMA video game, fear not: we’re entering the home stretch. With a little over a month and a half until the product hits shelves around the country, video game publishing giant Electronic Arts recently revealed the Lightweight and Welterweight rosters of their upcoming foray into MMA, simply titled “EA Sports MMA”. The game features Strikeforce fighters, fighters from the Japanese-based DREAM, assorted legends, and other notable stars from MMA’s past and present. With every weight division now set in stone, here’s the official rundown.

Looking at the title picture from the top row and going from left to right, the Welterweight division stands as follows: Marius Zaromskis, Lyman Good, Frank Trigg, Nick Thompson, Hayato Sakurai, Matt Lindland, Kazuo Misaki, Joe Riggs, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Jay Hieron, Joachim Hansen, Pat Miletich, Shinya Aoki, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, and Jake Shields.

The Lightweight division has also been announced, and you can view a photo of it right here.

Once again reading from top to bottom and left to right, the Lightweight division contains the following fighters: Billy Evangelista, Kron Gracie, Joachim Hansen, Gesias Calvancante, Vitor Ribeiro, Eddie Alvarez, Shinya Aoki, Satoru Kitaoka, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Lyle Beerbohm, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, Tatsuya Kawajiri, and Mizuto Hirota.

Like every other division in EA Sports MMA, both the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions are bolstered by cross-division talent. I think this is a worthy trade-off, all considered. Remember that this game has a global scope, and is not simply limited to one promotion. Unlike rival video game UFC Undisputed 2010, EA Sports did not have the luxury of having all of their fighters competing under one banner, so it’s a bit harder to get the rights to a fighter and make sure they’re available in the next hot video game. EA Sports MMA may not have as many fighters as Undisputed 2010, but it should be applauded for making the best out of its situation and making sure that all the fighters fans really want to play as are included in this game. Plus, it has Randy Couture. The dream match everyone has been talking about for years, Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emelianenko, can be recreated in one video game and one video game only. And that’s EA MMA. And I can’t wait to try it out for myself.

On paper, this game looks poised to take the crown away from UFC Undisputed 2010 and begin an MMA video game war akin to the storied Madden vs. NFL 2K rivalry, which produced some of the best football games ever. But we won’t really know until the game comes out. There’s a chance, a remote one at that, but there is a chance that this game is what UFC President Dana White claimed it would be all those months ago: EA trying to jump on the bandwagon and release a bad game just to make money out of the growing MMA market. The career and online mode looks expansive, the character models and graphics in general look great, and what gameplay we have seen looks fluid and solid. But bad controls can be the downfall of any video game in any genre, and unless this game is as fun to play as it is to look at, this MMA video game war may be over before it even gets started.

But personally? This game has made me a believer. I’ll be playing it on game day and will be online in no time. Look for a full review once all is said and done.

And what about you, fans and friends? With all the rosters now revealed, and with the launch date steadily approaching, how excited are you for EA Sports MMA?