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Sherdog sat down to talk with Peter Moore of EA Sports regarding their upcoming MMA game. The most interesting part of their conversation dealt with the reported UFC "ban" on fighters who work with EA.

Moore responded like a professional (read as: he didn't swear like a sailor).

It certainly hasn't deterred us whatsoever. we are not feeling any push  back from fighters that we really felt would be important for the game and that's not an issue for us. You know Dana's comments are what Dana feels is on his mind at that particular time and he is certainly, like anybody else he has an opinion and it is entirely up to him to manage what he says. we are focused on getting the right fighters, getting that geographical diversity I spoke about and the repercussions that may come from that become Dana's issue and not our issue.

You can watch the full interview here.

The upcoming battle between THQ and EA's respective IP's should be an indicator of what factors are important to the MMA audience.

If brand and fighter rosters are the most important factors than THQ certainly holds the advantage over EA. But If gameplay is more important than we should expect to see a real battle between the two IP's.

Also, if EA Sports MMA doesn't distinguish itself in gameplay, yet still sells strong, then it could indicate that the UFC brand is not as powerful within the gaming audience as we previously thought.

Unfortunately we will have to wait until next year to find out the details about EA Sports MMA.