MMA game is a sales knockout

The battle for mixed martial arts fans is spilling out of the ring and into the video-game arena.

UFC 2009 Undisputed ($60, rated T for ages 13-up), based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship— the largest organization in mixed martial arts — has become the surprise hit of a slumping summer. It has sold more than 1.5 million copies since its release May 19, according to market tracking firm The NPD Group.

Publisher THQ has shipped nearly 3 million copies worldwide, and a Nintendo Wii version is in the works; so far, the game has been available only for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

"We knew this was a strong brand, but this has actually surpassed our expectations," says THQ president Brian Farrell.

A challenger, EA Sports MMA, is already emerging. Due next year, the game will include the top-rated mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. As the No. 1 heavyweight in USA TODAY/SB Nation's consensus MMA rankings (but not part of the UFC), the Russian native brings instant credibility. "He's very important," says EA Sports president Peter Moore. "More fighters are going to follow. We want to have an impressive portfolio."

MMA, he says, "is very quickly becoming a very legitimate sport."

The sport began as underground, no-rules competitions so vicious that Sen. John McCain described them in 1998 as "on the level of cockfighting." But in 2001, the UFC adopted rules that led to its acceptance by state sports commissions and venues and subsequent viral success. "What was once a sporting oddity ... is now something you are seeing on mainstream major network TV," says Scott Steinberg, publisher of tech website DigitalTrends.com and an MMA follower.

UFC matches are contested in an eight-sided ring called the Octagon. Fighters employ a variety of styles, from judo and karate to kickboxing and wrestling, and come from diverse backgrounds. Current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is an ex-World Wrestling Entertainment title holder.

A sign of the sport's popularity: Last month's UFC 100 event, headlined in Las Vegas by Lesnar, was the largest yet with $5.1 million in tickets sold, 10,760-plus attending and 1.5 million watching on pay-per-view. (USA TODAY was a sponsor of the event.) And The Ultimate Fighter reality TV series, which returns Sept. 16 on Spike TV, has been viewed by nearly half (49%) of all U.S. men ages 18-49 over the last four seasons.

As in the real fights, a few blows to the head in UFC 2009 Undisputed causes blood to flow and stain the canvas. And the resulting gashes can be seen in replays — much more realistic than the Mature-rated Mortal Kombat video-game violence that led to congressional hearings in the 1990s.

Back then, however, Mortal Kombat "was hardly indicative of what most would consider acceptable mainstream entertainment," Steinberg says. "Likewise, mixed martial arts was once regarded by many as pure blood sport. It's only a relatively recent development that it's become a prime-time staple, as acceptable as boxing or professional wrestling in its own right."

The video-game showdown is even generating smack talk. UFC president Dana White has stated that any fighter who signs on to EA Sports' game can't compete in the UFC. Moore says: "We'll have to wait and see. ... There's more than enough room for two players."

With two top game publishers fighting for turf, "you've got quite a battle brewing," Steinberg says. "It's going to be as exciting as, if not more than, any championship fight."

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