Randy Couture Joins EA Sports MMA Fighter Roster

There is a huge market for sports games, further highlighted by the success of titles like Madden or FIFA, which go on to record massive amounts of popularity every time a new iteration is released on the market.

Fighting games are also quite important, as people always dream about going into the ring and taking control of their favorite fighters and defeating everyone. That is why games like Fight Night from EA or THQ's UFC are dominating the summer months when not a lot of big games are coming out.

But another important franchise coming from EA will be EA Sports MMA, which threatens to steal the MMA crown from THQ. The task is that much more difficult as the rival publisher holds exclusive rights to one of the most popular fighting competitions, the UFC, meaning that EA must go on and establish contracts with individual fighters, like Fedor Emelianenko.

Now, the company has announced another fighter who will appear in EA Sports MMA, none other than Randy Couture, who has become famous around the world for his fighting skills.

“I have been a part of MMA for over 10 years and I am excited about the global visibility that a game like EA Sports MMA will bring to the sport,” Couture said. “Like my fighting career, I look forward to taking on all comers in EA Sports MMA.”

The five-time MMA champion is still active in competitions like Pride and is no stranger to EA as he collaborated on the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 title by playing Commander Warren Fuller from the Allies faction.

Another fighter who will appear in the game will be Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron, who is fighting in the Strikerforce competitions held in San Jose, California.

Set to be released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, EA Sports MMA is slowly but surely gaining a lot of interesting fighters and might give THQ's UFC franchise a run for its money. May the best fighting game win.