THQ parades UFC licence round ring

By Robert Purchese Published 11 August, 2009

"There's one premiere league here."

THQ head banker Paul Pucino reckons no one stands a chance against the might of the UFC licence - not mentioning any names but MMA obviously.

"There's one premiere league here, and it's the UFC," Pucino told a private Pacific Crest forum (reported by Kotaku). "We have the octagon, and we have the announcers.

"We'd rather be in our position than any other position."

His comments are likely to be another jab at EA and new challenger Mixed Martial Arts, which no doubt hopes to have Jack Johnson and Tom O'Leary ready to return the blow when released next year.

The sparring began when outspoken UFC boss Dana White declared war on EA, revealing that the giant videogame publisher had dismissed the Ultimate Fighting Licence as "not a real sport" when approached a year-and-a-half ago.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Rictor001 #1 3 years ago

    haha - Bert, loving the Anchorman reference. As for the story - meh, Dana always gobs off. Yawn.

  • mkreku #2 3 years ago

    I'll still be buying the game with Fedor in it. I don't care about organizations, just fighters.

  • kungfubob #3 3 years ago

    I agree with both comments. I dont really care about organisations and all the trash talk,all i want to see as a fan of mma is quality matchups.

  • The_Mountie #4 3 years ago

    I'd love to see an UN-MIXED martial arts game.

    Like an updated Budokan: The Martial Spirit.

    Tae Kwon Do upside yo head!

  • matrim83 #5 3 years ago

    What, no hissy fit this time?

  • Eraysor #6 3 years ago

    I have no idea about the actual fighters in UFC or who the announcers are, I just like the gameplay. To me the licences aren't as important as they are in a more prominent sport such as football.

  • kungfubob #7 3 years ago

    I would like to see a game like that that too. Maybe you could have the option of picking a single martial art like karate,taekwondo or judo and work your way up the ladder from white belt novice training in the local dojo, up to amature training camps then blackbelt championships in your chosen art or have the choice to fight underground prize fighting. Maybe put in a story line of sorts in single player to add some emotional attachment to the game like a Van Damme movie with a karma level system, dirty fighting you become the bad guy,fight fair you become the good guy. Just a thought.
    Edited by 1 at 11/08/09 @ 13:11

  • Doctor_What #8 3 years ago

    I have a simple rule: a good game is more important to me than a good license.

    I'm aware that this puts me in the minority, but if the EA MMA game sounds mroe exciting than the UFC one then... Well, it's still a sports game, so I probably won't buy it, but I'll consider hiring whichever turns out to be best.

    As for single martial art games - yes, I can see them now:

    Tai Chi Fighter: you play an old man. Every night he walks through the worst disticts of his city, waiting to be mugged. When anyone tries to fight him, he slowly moves three inches then everyone is destroyed by his Chi.

    Wing Chun Fighter: you play as a wing chun master on a crusade to avenge your family. Every fight happens from a distance of twelve inches, lasts one second, and no-one actually can see how your opponent is suddenly very, very dead.

    Tae Kwon Do Fighter: You play as a TKD expert working for the police force. Thrown into an undercover role, you enter the world of back-street fighting. Every bout begins with you kicking the opponent in the head, before they then block the kick and punch you to death. As you die, your avatar screams: 'But I score more points for head-kicks!'

  • kungfubob #9 3 years ago

    Tai chi fighter sounds awesome!

  • LudusSolers #10 3 years ago

    Yes to "TKD fighter" please - you might even consider "...but he punched me in the face!!" as an alternative death quote. ^_^

  • spammage #11 3 years ago

    Apart from Fedor not being in it UFC is great I have been enjoying it tremendously, EA will have to go a long way to differentiate themselves from the licenced product. UFC is a massive brand.

  • kungfubob #12 3 years ago

    Apparently Fedor has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce and his first fight will be this autumn. I would have like to see him fight the likes of Lesnar, Gonzaga and in the UFC though, would have made for some great fights.

  • NinjaWilliams #13 3 years ago

    Oi UFC!: Implement an 'up against the cage brawling' pls!...

  • BabyJesus #14 3 years ago

    Jesus, how many times do UFC and THQ need to take digs at EA?

    UFC is a good game, they should let that do the talking and stop giving press to the opposition. They are effectively doing marketing for EA every time they do this.