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By Anthony De Franco  March 1, 2010, at 2:25 am
There is a lot to report in the world of video game MMA. THQ has begun the UFC 2010: Undisputed news cycle as they are going to release a new blog post every tuesday and Thursday, and do a Q & A with the community every two weeks. Be sure to get your questions in on their forums to make sure that they get answered.
Of course, We’ll be here to break down the news for all the true MMA fans. You know, all the people who are more excited about Gogopalatas than Kimbo Slice.
Let’s get started with some of the answers from this week’s Q & A:
Q: Are there going to be TKO’s due to injury and stoppage in Undisputed 2010?
Yes! Victories in 2010 can be achieved in a number of ways, one of which is stoppage due to cuts and injury. Did anyone tune in to UFC 110 and see the Bonnar fight that ended due to ref/doctor stoppage? ‘Stoppage’ was one of the biggest requests from our fan base, so we just had to implement these victory conditions.
A welcome addition for sure. MMA is a complex sport that has a lot of different ways to end a fight, and as such all of them should be represented in virtual form. It remains to be seen if Herb Dean is going to dive in and pull you off of your counterpart, but I hope he does.
Q: KO animations: have they changed?
Completely. Last year, we divulged that KO animations were a combination of animation and free form physics. The same is still true this year, but we changed a few things…We’ve emphasized the physics share of the equation much more. This makes the Knockout a much more high fidelity experience. How the KO looks will also be a product of how a player gets his lights put out: depending on where and how hard you land a strike, you’ll get a different looking KO. Cant wait to see some community compilations come May!
Last year, one of my biggest gripes with the game was the flying mouthpieces. While it was cool the first few times, it just made the whole thing feel fake. Now, no word on if that still happens, but we do get new KO animations. Let’s just hope that knocked out fighters don’t end up looking like ragdolls.
Q: Whats up with the game menu this year?
We redesigned the entire navigation system so you can get to where you want quickly and easily. ‘Nuff said.
Thank you, Jesus. Last year’s game was so clumsy in terms of menu navigation that it made not want to change the sponsors on my shorts in career mode. Seriously, it took SIX clicks of the “A” button to change one logo on my shorts. Does that make any sense to anyone? It’s good to hear that this complaint was heard. Hopefully the menu system makes more sense the second time around.
Alright, that is it from the Q & A, so let’s move on to the Blog entry regarding submissions.
We’ve kept the bread and butter subs that you know and love from last year’s Undisputed, but we’ve added some great variations and new options for those who want to use them. We saw a ton of people asking for the full Omoplata submission in 2010, which you’ll now be able to execute in the virtual octagon. Even the rare and elusive Gogoplata is making its Undisputed 2010 debut. Nothing spells ‘awesome’ like an shoulder lock to submission, right?
We’ve also added the Americana, D’Arce (think Thiago vs Swick in UFC 109), Peruvian Necktie, Achilles lock, Ankle Lock, Heel Hook, Arm Triangle, and tons of leg locks, just to name a few. You’ll even see some Ultimate fighters breaking out their signature subs on the mat, like BJ Penn’s rear naked choke by way of arm trap (think UFC 101 and his submission of Kenny Florian).
In addition to over twice as many new submissions along with their own distinct animations, there are new positions from which you can attempt a submission. Your posture when in the guard will affect what submission you can initiate. So if you’re down posture, you’ll be going for a Kimura whereas if your postured up, you’ll be going for a kneebar.
Another complaint from last year’s game was that there simply were not enough submissions. Now, that should be solved as just about every submission I can think of that I’ve seen in a fight in the last five or six years is in there. Well, actaully, there is no anaconda choke, which has to annoy Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Nothing lifeshattering, but some good reveals nonetheless.

By Anthony De Franco  February 16, 2010, at 7:41 pm
I am eagerly anticipating the next season of Bellator. They are signing so many top prospects that could be future stars that it’s easy to forget that they have one of the top lightweights in the world already in the fold. Eddie Alvarez will return to the cage to take on Josh Neer in May, according to a press release from Bellator.
CHICAGO, Ill. (February 16, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that its reigning lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez, the No. 2-ranked lightweight in the world, will square off in a non-title “Super Fight” with UFC veteran Josh “The Dentist” Neer under the Bellator banner this May.
The fight is the first Super Fight matchup to be announced by Bellator, which is now gearing up for its much-anticipated nationally-televised second season. These non-tournament, non-title catch-weight fights will pit Bellator’s Season 1 Champions — Alvarez, Joe Soto, Lyman Good and Hector Lombard — against top competition as they prepare to defend their titles from Bellator’s Season 2 tournament winners this fall.
First off, I don’t know who has Alvarez ranked second, but I’d like to meet him. I’d put Kenny Florian, and even Shinya Aoki in front of him. That doesn’t change the fact that he is a top five fighter. His last fight was at DREAM 12 where he defeated Katsunori Kikuno by arm triangle in round two. The Philadelphia-based boxer/wrestler won season one of Bellator by defeating Toby Imada in the finals.
Josh Neer was recently released by the UFC after losing consecutive fights to Kurt Pellegrino and Gleison Tibau. Altogether, he was 2-3 in the UFC before being released. A good ground fighter, his specialty is the standup which is where he earned his nickname “The Dentist.” He provides veteran competition to Alvarez, but shouldn’t provide the favorite too much of a problem.
A quick thought about this fight: Why is it non-title? What is the point of creating a belt if they aren’t going to make the champ defend it?
By Jason Comack  January 21, 2010, at 3:47 pm
A long rumored fight between Takanori Gomi and Kenny Florian has been made official ESPN’s MMA Live Twitter broke the news.
Kenny Florian-Takanori Gomi expected as the main event for UFC Fight Night 21 March 31st in North Carolina.
Florian obviously has ties to MMA Live as he serves as a co-host.
Florian currently is considered the second or third best lightweight in the world. He’s coming off a very impressive performance against Clay Guida. In that fight he showcased greatly improved boxing, to go along with his Thai skills, and excellent wrestling. He stuffed Guida’s takedowns and even slammed the strong wrestler.
Gomi on the other hand is a fighter on the decline. Once unanimously considered the top lightweight in the world the Fireball Kid has lost 2 of his last 4 fights. While this is a solid main event for a Fight Night, much better then Maynard/Diaz, I’m not sure what the long term plan with Gomi is. If he beats Florian then what? He already got smoked by Penn. And if he loses then what? For Florian this is lose, lose situation. A win won’t get him closer to Penn and for the most part really anywhere. Let’s be honest outside of the Pride faithful no one knows who Gomi is. A loss would be cripling for K-Flo.
I have a therory as to why the UFC is suddenly pushing Gomi but you’ll have to wait till later today to read it.
By Jason Comack  January 18, 2010, at 8:37 pm
Update:
According to Diego Sanchez’s Twitter:
“Yes I’m going back to welterweight. I’m loving my new diet. I want Kos or Fitch but any top guy will do. Just want to give you fans the best fight.”
Is Diego Sanchez considering a move back to welterweight?
The New Mexico native on Sunday night left a somewhat cryptic message via his Facebook page stating “going back up to 170.”
When contacted by MMAWeekly.com, Jeff Clark, Sanchez’s manager, indicated that there has been no official decision made at this time about what weight class he will compete in next.
A move to 170 makes sense for Sanchez. He was a decent size 170 pound fighter and a huge lightweight. It’s easy to imagine the cut to 155 wasn’t very easy for him. At lightweight there are a lot of interesting matchups for him, most notably Kenny Florian, but he already has fought the champ and lost. It’s hard to imagine Sanchez ever getting another title shot as long as Penn holds the belt.

It’s not like Sanchez didn’t have success at 170. Sanchez was 7-2 in the division, in the UFC, with his only losses being to top welterweight contenders Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck. If he moved back to welterweight full time he’d easily be the 5th or 6th best fighter in the division at worst.
Usually it’s moving down in weight that reinvigorates a career, but in Sanchez’s case moving up in weight may do the same thing.
By Anthony De Franco  January 13, 2010, at 1:16 am
Yes, I know. We’re behind. We’ve all been busy. Leave me alone.
While Frankie Edgar might be next in line to fight B.J. Penn, there is little support for him as the current number two lightweight in the world. Instead, most people (mainly me) beleive that honors falls on the shoulder of Kenny Florian. Florian has all the tools to be the best in the world, and showed improvement in his weakest areas, boxing and wrestling, in his last few fights.

Florian led up to UFC 101 talking about his desire to kill the master and all kinds of other talk from kung-fu movies. Now, he gets a shirt with his own samurai on it. This is the latest in the TapouT signature collection, which actually has some pretty awesome shirts that are VERY fighter specific.
MMA Warehouse has it for 27.99.
For more UFC-Worn gear, check out The 3rd String Store.
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