http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ips/index.html
"Causing a stir over the weekend were rumors -- now confirmed by SI.com -- of the UFC's attempt to make it difficult, if not impossible, for fighters to sign a licensing agreement that would put their likeness in the recently announced "EA Sports MMA" title, which is set for release next year.
Beginning the week before July 4, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, at the behest of Dana White, called managers with this message: If you've been in the UFC and think maybe you want to come back someday, or you haven't had the pleasure and plan on fighting in the Octagon, you better not sign that EA licensing agreement.
White is said to be adamant that aligning with EA is no different than declaring war on the UFC and its wildly successful THQ-produced UFC 2009 Undisputed, which sold more than a million copies in its first month. Fighters, from world-class to journeyman, were told the prudent choice was to decline money offers from EA -- deals with fighters on the level of Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Nick Diaz, Mo Lawal and Jake Shields, range from $5,000 to $15,000 for a one-game, two-year nonexclusive deal, according to multiple sources.
In Miller's case, potential consequences weren't enough to prevent him from aligning with EA, the middleweight told SI.com. However other fighters, such as Nathan Diaz -- who avoided signing UFC's exclusive licensing game agreement with THQ, which provides most fighters with zero compensation and was at the center of the controversy that saw Jon Fitch banished from the UFC for 24 hours -- decided against participating in the EA sports title, according to his management.
Former five-time UFC champion Randy Couture is believed to be the only fighter currently under contract to Zuffa who will appear in the EA version. "The Natural" managed to ink an exclusive deal during his 11-month courtroom fight with the UFC. Couture, who is expected to appear on the game's cover, told SI.com he attempted to bring both sides together after falling back in favor with the UFC, but a compromise placing UFC fighters in the EA game never materialized.
For the UFC to stick to its guns, the company would effectively tell Fedor Emelianenko, MMA's top-ranked heavyweight, Shields, a highly regarded welterweight, and other top-class competitors they aren't welcome. That seems like a steep and foolish price to pay, but the Zuffa-led UFC has a long history of winning trench-war like this.
The UFC is partial to signing fighters it sees as willing participants and partners. Why sign and market a mixed martial artist to the point that he's championship caliber in the UFC, while at the same time build that fighter's profile for a rival video game?
That hypothetical thinking, said one source, is what brought White to dispatch Silva."