The Weekly Wrap: Aug. 15 - Aug. 21

Couture in EA Game

Electronic Arts announced this past week that UFC headliner Randy Couture would be a featured fighter in their upcoming "EA Sports MMA" video game, which will be released next year.

The announcement came during the same month Couture is set to headline a pay-per-view for the UFC, which has decreed that fighters who sign with the EA game (an upcoming rival of the wildly successful THQ "UFC Undisputed" franchise) would not be welcome to compete in the Octagon. Couture negotiated the right to appear in the EA game during his nearly yearlong contractual standoff with the UFC. In an interview with Sherdog.com, Couture said he’s signed an exclusive EA deal.

Fedor Emelianenko, Jay Hieron, Renato Sobral and Gegard Mousasi have also been announced as characters in the game. Tim Sylvia, Tim Kennedy, Muhammed Lawal and Benji Radach have said in interviews they’ll be featured as well. EA was promoting the game as the arena where fans could realize the elusive Couture vs. Emelianenko dream match. EA executive Peter Moore told Sherdog.com that the company plans to sign fighters all the way up to two weeks before the game ships.

A new game in EA's MMA series will be released every other year, intermittent with the popular "Fight Night" boxing games. “UFC Undisputed,” which has shipped 3 million copies worldwide and was the best-selling video game in the country in the three-month period from April to June, is expected to have a new release every year.