LOS ANGELES — It feels like 2004 all over again. Electronic Arts has signed an exclusivity deal with the fastest growing sport in the country and promises to bring “many games to many platforms.”

At their E3 press conference, EA Sports president Andrew Wilson welcomed UFC president Dana White to the stage. In a rather awkward announcement, White told the press about the organization’s plans to partner with EA for their next video game installments.

THQ previously held the rights to the mixed martial arts organization and had managed to produce three highly regarded games for the license with their UFC Undisputed saga. In a farewell letter to THQ, White expressed his gratitude to the company and justified the move to EA as a means to “leverage [EA’s] sport platform and expand our brand in the video game space.

THQ president Brian Farrell said that “THQ’s more focused strategy moving forward meant that transferring the license to EA made sense for all parties.”

Call it what you will, but when EA signed an exclusivity deal with Madden back in 04, it ended any type of competition in the football spectrum. Many call NFL 2k5 the greatest football game of all time, lets not hope the same is being said about UFC Undisputed 3 five years from now.

About The Author

Ivan Favelevic is Blast Magazine's Associate Gaming Editor. He knows he would be a nobody in Westeros and is ok with that. Follow him on Twitter @FlyingBags to hear random thoughts on games plus some soccer and basketball rants.

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