It's not often that video games are actually ahead of their real life counterparts, but it does happen. Female fighters have been a part of brawlers at least since Chun-Lin first lightning kicked her way into gamers' lives when Street Fighter II hit arcades so many years ago.
As an organization, the UFC has been around for almost 20 years now, and included women in on the organization only last year. Now, shortly after female fighters were included, the tenth UFC game, EA Sports UFC, will be the first to feature female fighters, who'll trade the same virtual blows that Chun-Li paved the way for all those years ago.
"This is a great moment for videogames and for Mixed Martial Arts," said Dean Richards, GM of EA Sports UFC. "In our commitment to delivering the most realistic fighting experience ever achieved, we wanted to represent the full spectrum of talent and diversity of all the fighters in the sport, including women who have become an undeniable force to be reckoned with."
"Force to be reckoned with." Truer words have never been spoken. The game's female headliners are none other than the first and current UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, named el numero uno female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising, MMAWeekly, and others. She's well known for her armbar, the method she's used to force all her opponents into submission, and in the first round no less.
Rousey is joined by real life rival and top bantamweight contender Miesha Tate, former Bantamweight Women's Champion of Strikeforce. The two will go head to head in this year's UFC 168. Both of them are the female coaches on the upcoming season of Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter," and both Tate and Rousey also enjoy inflicting pain on chinless men with the body of scallops.
Other female fighters haven't been announced yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Cat Zingano, who boasts a better record than Rousey, and recent UFC addition Alexis Davis. We'll keep you posted once EA announces additional fighters in the future.
You can see some of "Rowdy" and Tate's highlights, as well as Rousey's personal thoughts in the clip below. EA Sports UFC will be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next spring.
