Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

[Steve_OS]

Xbox360achievements has the scoop.

"In what started out as an internet rumour, UFC president, Dana White, confirmed after Saturday's UFC 100 that anyone appearing in EA's MMA title would not fight in the UFC.

MMAjunkie are reporting that White stated that he was at "war" with EA Sports and insisted that they didn't throw the first punch.

"EA Sports told us, 'You're not a real sport,'" White said. "'We wouldn't touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this.'"

"We put our asses on the line, THQ and the UFC, to make a video-game deal in the worst economy in the world," White said. "We go out there and do this thing, and it's successful, and now ******* EA Sports wants to do a video game. Really? That's not what you told us a year-and-a-half ago."

"You told us you'd never be in business with us. They wouldn't even take a meeting because mixed martial arts disgusted them. This wasn't a real sport. Boy, they got over that real quick, didn't they?"

[WeLLWeLL]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

For the first time in a while I actually agree with Dana White. If what he says is true than how could you not support that.

[TreyIM2]

Woooww, so much for the politically correct statement from the UFC, eh? Lol. The way he sounded, I almost completely believe him because to be honest, I don't actually like MMA. It's a bit barbaric "compared to boxing" and I really didn't think much of the sport making it this far so a bit of what EA was thinking, so was I. It's fun to play as a video game but actually watching it is brutal, at times. I loved the UFC 2009 demo but not enough to buy it.

As for how he feels, I don't blame him being angry at EA and now that they see that the UFC is really doing well, these days, they want to NOW get a piece of the pie. I dunno how long THQ has the license for but once it expires, Dana may wanna re-think his position. For now, it's OK and so is his stance but at the end of the day, it's business, so if I were him, I'd let both EA AND THQ split the license, and whoever else wants in because it will definitely pay off lovely.

[Heelfan71]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

go Dana ! Doesn't surprise me EA said all that .

[Wet Bandit]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

Co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta made similar comments at the UFC Fan Expo over the weekend:

"...when we had the opportunity to go out and build a video game who do you think the first people we called was? EA Sports… We sat in the room with them and I would have cut a worse deal just to be with EA Sports. I wanted them so bad. They looked at them and they told us they didn't think MMA was a sport. This was three years ago. They said the UFC was irrelevant and that we were wasting their time. So we went down the street and did a deal with THQ and they thought MMA was a sport. So we stick with the guys who stick with us. Now the UFC video game has been a massive success with three million copies sold. And guess what EA wants to do? They want to do an MMA game now…"

[TracerBullet]

I don't get why poeple say it's not a port or it won't catch on. Even a few years ago the UFC was growing pretty fast. Sucks EA missed their chance but it's their own fault if these statements are true (which I think they are). They treated the UFC just like ESPN does, talk about how its just chaos and there's no skill to it. Sad. Oh well though maybe EA can still maek a good game and hopefully THQ continues to build their already promising franchise.

[aholbert32]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

I don't get why poeple say it's not a port or it won't catch on. Even a few years ago the UFC was growing pretty fast. Sucks EA missed their chance but it's their own fault if these statements are true (which I think they are). They treated the UFC just like ESPN does, talk about how its just chaos and there's no skill to it. Sad. Oh well though maybe EA can still maek a good game and hopefully THQ continues to build their already promising franchise.

ESPN showed a lot of love to the UFC this weekend.

[RaychelSnr]

Well, we know that EA won't be getting THAT license anytime soon

[SouthernBrick]

Lmao. I'm going to love to see how this turns out. If I was a fighter I wouldn't be in the game anyway. There all already rich and theres already a UFC game so I wouldn't be in another one. I respect Dana for what he's doing because, if someone told me what I did for a living was a joke and then wanted to make money off of it once its doing well then I wouldn't want them having anything.

If the fighters of the UFC have any pride about what they do for a living then they will not be in EA's game since EA didn't care about the sport enough to even have a meeting about it. Money talks though so its going to be funny to see how this turns out.

[elgreazy1]

I'm sure Dana White might change his mind down the line when EA shows up with stacks of cash as they did with the NFL license. Regardless, you have to give the man some props for telling it like it is. It's his dream and his baby that has become a huge success and he does what he needs to in order to keep it strong and alive.

THQ did an amazing job with the first installment of UFC, and with their track record with the WWE series, I have no doubt they'll continue to do the same. EA Sports, on the other hand, has only been doing well due to licensing purchasing & hype. Only until this last year did they start putting effort back into their game development.

[bowdown2shadi]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

Good for Dana and the UFC. EA is all about the money, and I am so happy that White sees right through them.

[Keith121212]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

Yea I highlighted this quote in another thread. I'm not even looking at EA's MMA game just off of principle. F'em.

[bkfount]

Re: Dana White: "EA Doesn't Give a **** About MMA"

I have to laugh at the comments about EA only being out for the money, what do you think the UFC is in business for? So what if EA didn't think a UFC game would be viable a year or two ago? Things change and many of the corporations/media the UFC is getting interest from probably thought the same at some point. The UFC's primary viewers are quite a marketable demographic, so of course EA flipped their stance.

blacklisting fighters because they sign with EA shows he doesn't really give a crap about the MMA industry either, just the UFC's merchandise. There are some great fighters outside of the UFC right now, and freezing them out of the top organization isn't done to make the sport stronger.

[bronco92]

This made me laugh.