Lorenzo Fertitta Q&A
Q. If a fighter signs with EA Sports, will they be banned from the UFC? Fertitta: “There is no such…
Q. If a fighter signs with EA Sports, will they be banned from the UFC?
Fertitta: “There is no such thing as banned, but this is something that does get under my skin and Dana’s skin because when we had the opportunity to go out and build a video game who do you think the first people we called was? EA Sports… We sat in the room with them and I would have cut a worse deal just to be with EA Sports. I wanted them so bad. They looked at them and they told us they didn’t think MMA was a sport. This was three years ago. They said the UFC was irrelevant and that we were wasting their time. So we went down the street and did a deal with THQ and they thought MMA was a sport. So we stick with the guys who stick with us. Now the UFC video game has been a massive success with three million copies sold. And guess what EA wants to do? They want to do an MMA game now… If you are young fighter coming up, it just makes sense to stay under the umbrella of UFC companies, sponsors and marketing to ensure yourself a cut of the action for the rest of your life.”
