So what does EA bring to the arena to set itself apart from UFC?  The main thing being a better control mechanism, borrowed straight from Fight Night, rather than button mashing to punch or kick, you use differing flicks of the right thumbstick to deal the pain.

Predictably the game has the usual modes, quick match and career.  career is a little different from what I remember of UFC, it has an international flavour and the training aspect actually encourages you to train, as well as giving you the option to pay to train with experts in different fields, giving you the option to unlock special moves.

The graphics and gameplay work well together, though the computer opponents to seem to have a slight advantage on the mat.

All together MMA is a solid entry by EA into the genre, and UFC will definitely have to step up to the mark next year if they want to stop their fans from jumping over to MMA.

On a slightly bizarre side note, I was mistakenly sent the PS3 version to review rather than my preferred XBox format, and this coincided with my having a loan Move unit which included the PlayStation Eye, allowing me to take a front on and side profile picture of myself, then having EA map my features onto my career player so that I could be in the game.  It was a little uncanny however, as even though the face looked vaguely familiar, the body certainly did not!

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MMA is the second Mixed Martial Arts title I have played this year, the first being UFC Undisputed 2010.  I’m still not a fan of the sports, but despite not having the UFC license to back it up, EA’s MMA does a mighty fine job of portraying a sport I can’t help laughing at, especially when two sweaty mean, intent on smacking the living daylights out of each other, end up rolling around on the floor in positions that make you wonder…Of course for the fans its no laughing matter, and to be honest there’s something inside me that enjoys the fact that two men are allowed to fight to the figurative death – knock you opponent to the ground and unlike the very British rules of boxing, you don’t have to wait to see if he can get up again, rather you can jump on him and repeatedly punch him in the face until he gives up.

So yeah, you could call this a violent sport. 

So what does EA bring to the arena to set itself apart from UFC?  The main thing being a better control mechanism, borrowed straight from Fight Night, rather than button mashing to punch or kick, you use differing flicks of the right thumbstick to deal the pain.Predictably the game has the usual modes, quick match and career.  career is a little different from what I remember of UFC, it has an international flavour and the training aspect actually encourages you to train, as well as giving you the option to pay to train with experts in different fields, giving you the option to unlock special moves.The graphics and gameplay work well together, though the computer opponents to seem to have a slight advantage on the mat.All together MMA is a solid entry by EA into the genre, and UFC will definitely have to step up to the mark next year if they want to stop their fans from jumping over to MMA.

On a slightly bizarre side note, I was mistakenly sent the PS3 version to review rather than my preferred XBox format, and this coincided with my having a loan Move unit which included the PlayStation Eye, allowing me to take a front on and side profile picture of myself, then having EA map my features onto my career player so that I could be in the game.  It was a little uncanny however, as even though the face looked vaguely familiar, the body certainly did not!