TheUltimate Fighter Championshipvideo games have featured a wide list of athletes on the game covers, including the alternate cover art for regional releases of a few of the earlier games. Some of theUFCcover athletes even make repeat appearances across the series of games. The athletes all have their reasons for deserving the featured appearance, though a couple of the cover athletes have gone on to experience what fans call the EA sports cover curse after the fact.
TheUFCgames have been around since the earliest title was released in North America in late 2000. The manyUFCgames and regional releases were developed by a long list of separate development teams until EA purchased the publishing rights in 2012, and it continues to be the exclusive developer. According to rumors,EA’s nextUFCtitleis already in development, as fans on social media continue to speculate over ideal cover athletes for future games.
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Cover Athletes in UFC Games
Ultimate Fighting Championship:North America’s regional release ofUltimate Fighter Championshipwas released with a cover of Tito Ortiz over an unrecognizable fighter. This first official game for theUFCbrand of combat sports was just the start of Tito Ortiz’s career as a cover athlete. The game was released in 2000, which was the year that Ortiz first held the champion title for the light heavyweight division in theUFC.
UFC Throwdown:This game features returning cover athlete Tito Ortiz and Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr. on the North America cover. The Japanese cover also featured Tito Ortiz, as well as Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman, and Caol Uno among other unrecognizable figures. In 2002 Ortiz still held the title of light heavyweight champion, and Mask’s briefly pursued career as a professional fighter was concluding around this time.
UFC: Tapout:Tito Ortiz is back for a thirdUFCgame cover in a row. Chuck Liddell makes a return appearance, while Frank Shamrock is also featured. Around the game’s release in 2003, Chuck Liddell was on pace to fight Tito Ortiz for the light heavyweight champion title, and to this day Liddell remains one of thebest characters inUFC4 for beginners. Meanwhile, Frank Shamrock held the light heavyweight champion title for the World Extreme Cagefighting brand of professional fighting.
UFC: Tapout 2:With a fourth and final appearance as a cover athlete for this title, Tito Ortiz iseffectively the most recurring and sequential of all cover athletes. The cover also features Chuck Liddell and who appears to be Carlos Newton and BJ Penn, among others. Liddell and Ortiz’s fight for theUFClight heavyweight championship title was pushed back and was still much anticipated around the time of this game.
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UFC: Sudden Impact:UFC: Sudden Impactfeatured Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr. and Phil Baroni as cover athletes and was released in 2004. Baroni is an interesting choice for a cover athlete at this time because, between 2002 and 2004, Baroni had a troubling career in theUFC, namely several losses and a suspension. This game made for Mask’s second game cover appearance, and the fighter would go on to be later inducted into theUFCHall of Fame.
UFC 2009 Undisputed:UFC Undisputedis the first game from a partnership with THQ, which is currentlyowned by Embracer Group. Forrest Griffin is the lone cover athlete after a long list of games with multiple athletes. In early 2008 Griffin held the light heavyweight champion title.
UFC Undisputed 2010:The secondUFCseries game from THQ featured Brock Lesnar as the lone cover athlete. While those unfamiliar with combat sports may sooner recognize Lesnar from wrestling on TV and related video games, he pursued a career in combat sports twice. Some people familiar with the athlete even theorize appearances ofBrock Lesnar inAssassin’s Creed Syndicate. In his first venture into theUFCand shortly before becoming a cover athlete, Lesnar held the heavyweight champion title.
UFC Undisputed 3:In the finalUFCgame from THQ, the cover athlete was Anderson Silva. Coinciding with its finalUFClicensed game,THQ was rumored to shut downdue to over-extending on licensed partnerships. Silva reportedly won the opportunity of being a cover athlete through a community vote. Around the time of the release ofUFC Undisputed 3, Anderson Silva held the champion title for the middleweight division in theUFC.
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EA Sports UFC:After THQ, EA entered an ongoing partnership with theUFCto license the fighting games. The cover athletes forEA Sports UFCwere Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson. Jones held the light heavyweight champion title for 4 years prior to the game’s release, and Gustafsson was a longtime rival for the same title. After the game’s release, Jones’ career suffered from a series of unfortunate events, coinciding with the fan theory oftheUFCcover curse.
EA Sports UFC 2:The nextUFCgame from EA featured Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor as the cover athletes. Rousey was the women’s bantamweight division champion for over 3 years prior to the game’s release and is the first and only woman to be a cover athlete forUFCgames. Recently, career fame led toRonda Rousey becoming a character inRaid Shadow Legends. McGregor had an impressive 19:3 win history and previously held the featherweight champion title in theUFCleading up to the game’s launch.
EA Sports UFC 3:EA’s thirdUFCgame featured Conor McGregor, again. Building up to this game’s release and showcased on the cover art, Mcgregor was famed for simultaneously holding two champion titles in theUFC, the featherweight and lightweight division titles. Despite being a two-time cover athlete,McGregor has publicly insulted theUFCgames.
EA Sports UFC 4:The most recentUFCgame as of 2023 features Jorge Masvidal and Israel Adesanya as cover athletes. Around the game’s release in 2022, Masvidal just faced his second unsuccessful shot at a championship title, though a considerably long record of mostly wins kept him among fan favorites. In Adesanya’s career before the game’s release, he held the middleweight championship title and was undefeated for all of his first 20 fights. Since thenAdesanya appeared in anElden Ringpromotion, which was an extremely appropriate casting.
