Village Gamer

Sixteen fighters. One cover. Who joins Jones? Electronic Arts Inc. and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC^®) have announced that Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, the youngest champion in UFC history, will be one of two fighters to appear on the EA Sports UFC cover. The second fighter will be selected by fans in the EA Sports UFC Cover Vote presented by MetroPCS. The 16 fighters featured in the cover vote include current UFC champions and top contenders, such as Georges St-Pierre, Ronda Rousey, Anthony Pettis, Chris Weidman, Johny Hendricks, Jose Aldo, Alexander Gustafsson, Miesha Tate, and more. Fans can cast their vote now to ensure their favorite fighter gets to share in the cover spotlight.

Once fans cast their vote, they will have an opportunity to enter the MetroPCS EA Sports UFC Cover Vote Sweepstakes, where they can win a chance to experience the thrill of fight night first-hand. MetroPCS will pair one lucky winner with the fighter who wins the EA Sports UFC Cover Vote. At the fighter’s next UFC bout in the continental United States, the sweepstakes winner will have the ultimate experience – walking out of the tunnels with the fighter and their team.

“It’s a huge honor to be selected as one of the fighters to appear on the cover of EA Sports UFC,” said Jones. “I am a big fan of EA Sports and appearing on a cover is one of those things you dream about as a kid. I’ll definitely be following the Cover Vote to see which fighter the fans choose to join me as the face of the game.”

“It’s going to be exciting to see these 16 fighters square off outside of the Octagon in a fan vote to see who is ultimately selected for the EA Sports UFC cover,” said Tracey Bleczinski, UFC Senior Vice President of Consumer Products. “The UFC continues to engage fans in new and innovative ways. There will be some great conversations and debates amongst UFC fans across social media as they determine the second fighter.”

“The EA Sports UFC Cover announcement represents a landmark announcement for EA,” said Dean Richards, General Manager, EA Sports UFC. “The UFC is the first new major sports league partnership for EA Sports in over a decade and to stay true to the sport, we’re featuring two fighters on the cover. We couldn’t be more excited to be working with Jon Jones and we can’t wait to see who fans choose to join him in sharing the spotlight.”

“MetroPCS is all about giving our customers freedom and choice in wireless, and that’s exactly what the EA Sports UFC Cover Vote does — put the decision in the consumer’s hands,” said Patrick Wong, Director of Field Marketing for MetroPCS. “Since the start of our partnership with the UFC two years ago, we’ve strived to take fans beyond the octagon and give them an interactive and personal experience with the sport – you can’t get much better than walking out with a fighter in the final moments before they step into the cage.”

The EA Sports UFC Cover Vote presented by MetroPCS begins today and will run until December 1, 11:59:59 PM EST. The vote will consist of a weekly round-by-round, 16-fighter, head-to-head elimination tournament. Fans worldwide are encouraged to vote as often as possible to ensure their favorite fighter advances through the rounds.

Fans can double their voting power by using these fighter specific hashtags on “Twitter Vote Thursdays.” Each fighter specific hashtag used on Twitter on Thursdays will be counted as two official votes. Fans can join the conversation about the cover vote every day by using #EASPORTSUFC on Twitter and Instagram. Click the image to the right to see the Round 1 hashtags.

EA SPORTS UFC Cover Vote Schedule:

• Round of 16 : Prelims
  • Voting live from Mon, Nov. 4^th – Sun, Nov. 10^th
• Round of 8 : Main Card
  • Voting live from Mon, Nov. 11^th – Sun, Nov. 17^th
• Final Four : Co-Main Event –
  • Voting live from Mon, Nov. 18^th – Sun, Nov. 24^th
• Finals : Title Fight
  • Voting live from Mon, Nov. 19^th – Sun, Dec. 1^st

Voting by round will close each Sunday night at 12:00am and reopen Monday morning at 10:00am.

EA SPORTS UFC Cover Athlete Candidates

Demetrious Johnson	Chris Weidman
Dominick Cruz	Junior Dos Santos
Urijah Faber	Chael Sonnen
Jose Aldo	Michael Bisping
Anthony Pettis	Alex Gustafsson
Ben Henderson	Daniel Cormier
Georges St-Pierre	Ronda Rousey
Johny Hendricks	Miesha Tate

Currently in development at the EA Canada campus in Burnaby, EA Sports UFC is powered by EA Sports Ignite technology and will be available for the Xbox One^® and PlayStation^® 4 in Spring 2014. EA Sports UFC brings the action, emotion and intensity inside the Octagon to life in ways that were never before possible. The next-generation of True Player Motion not only showcases the diverse, powerful and fluid attacks of elite mixed martial artists through Precision Movement, Dynamic Striking and Strategic Submission Battles, but also brings the combatants to life with Full Body Deformation and Real-Time Exertion. The simulation of Human Intelligence takes leaps forward with the strategic and adaptive MMAi system and is expressed through the most realistic characters ever created in a sports game.

For the latest in game updates, become a fan of EA Sports UFC on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.