EA UFC Cover Vote Playing it Safe? - Wiggy's Blog

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Wiggy's Blog

EA UFC Cover Vote Playing it Safe? Stuck

Posted on November 6, 2013 at 07:35 AM.

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EA is running a vote to decide which fighter will adorn the cover of the upcoming EA UFC alongside light-heavyweight champ Jon "Bones" Jones. It's not entirely surprising to see Jones on the cover, as the guy is (effectively) undefeated and has a veritable trophy case of high-level victims on his resume. It is a bit surprising to see a second athlete on the cover, though. I've speculated on the reasoning for cover votes in the past, but I think something different is going on with this particular game.

With the UFC having a long history of injuries and problem children plaguing the higher ranks of each division, even with titleholders, it stands to reason that they might want to hedge their bets here with two different fighters on the cover. This way, they could potentially have a heavier star and a lighter star on the cover, or they could go with one of the marketable women � Tate or Rousey � alongside Jones. Or maybe they're just changing up the formula from previous years' covers, particularly since this is a new company behind the franchise, and EA is known for doing multi-athlete covers.

If you look at previous cover athletes, they all eventually lost some marketability and relevance soon after their respective games were released. Forest Griffin, who was on the cover of UFC 2009 Undisputed (GSP in Canada, which is kind of obvious all the time), was in the twilight of his already short career when that game came out. It made sense to cash on his historical significance to the UFC, but it was probably a short-sighted choice in retrospect. Of course, Griffin is now retired.

Brock Lesnar was on the cover for UFC Undisputed 2010, which was released in May 2010, and that was purely to cash on one upcoming fight with him against Shane Carwin, which Lesnar managed to win because Carwin gassed before he did. The trend of picking a marketable aging face to grace the cover backfired again here, though, as Lesnar was knocked into irrelevance later that year against Cain Velasquez.

Anerson Silva's highlight-reel knockout of Vitor Belfort was a great choice for the cover for UFC Undisputed 3, but of course even Anderson Silva couldn't stay untouchable forever, as he's been the latest victim of looking human inside the octagon, thanks to Chris Weidman.

For this year's game, now from EA, the UFC is clearly looking to play it a little more safe by picking such a dominant champion in Jones, as his reign seems pretty secure for the foreseeable future, as most challengers to his title are interesting, but I wouldn't call any of them actual threats. Also, Jones has youth on his side, meaning his brand will be evergreen for the next several years. Similarly, most of the choices available to join him on the cover are younger fighters, men and women who will be saleable for the next five years at least.

It's more interesting to me, actually, that Cain Velasquez isn't even an option in the voting. I wonder what the reasoning is. I certainly never thought of him as particularly marketable, but to put Faber or Bisping on the cover and not give Velasquez a shot? That seems weird.

What do you think, OS? Are EA and the UFC playing it safe by picking two cover athletes? Are the hedging their bets in case Jones gets upset in his next fight?

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Follow me on Twitter @glennwigmore

Comments

# 1 Dr. Banner @ Nov 6

Should of just let Jones have the cover by him lonesome. He's the best!

# 2 believeinnow @ Nov 6

you don't take into effect the politics behind a potential cover. It's all about dollar bills so older fighters probably demand a higher cut. Or, perhaps someone like Cain doesn't want to be the cover, knowing the extra marketing he'll have to do with the game. Jones has been involved since Day 1.

What is really interesting is that unlike other cover votes, these guys are really involved; you should check out Bisping's cover vote video with his family. They can't act but it's really funny.

# 3 laxman490 @ Nov 6

I'm surprised they didn't just choose Rousey themselves and be over with it. They would be dumb to not capitalize on Rousey's marketability right now.