Before we get into this review, first we gotta give a brief back-story on how this game came to be to truly appreciate what we’re dealing with. Four years ago, the UFC wanted a video game made and who better to do it than the premiere sports video game maker, EA Sports. However, in a bit of shortsightedness, EA  told Dana ‘F’N’ White that MMA wasn’t a viable video game property. Who could blame them, as previous UFC games had underperformed and at the time, the UFC wasn’t the phenomenon it is today. Fast-forward a bit, the UFC blew up and EA came crawling back to get a video game made. This time, Dana turned THEM down and instead got THQ produce the two UFC Undisputed games. EA moved forward with their own their own MMA game and begun signing some of the top (non-UFC fighters) in the world, along with MMA promotion Strikeforce. Now we have arguably the best MMA game on the market with EA Sports MMA.

EA MMA borrows a majority of their controls and mechanics from their other combat sports franchise, Fight Night. Instead of using the face buttons to execute punches and kicks, they’re mapped to the right analog stick. This is really effective with punches, as pushing straight for jabs and looping around for hooks and haymakers works just fine. The downside of using motions to throw punches is it can be tricky pulling off combos as its hard to go from throwing a left punch then trying to follow up with a right. But with the intricate controls, coupled with the game’s great block and parry system, it all but eliminates button mashers. Anyone trying that weak mess online, will get owned. The grappling and submission game needs a bit of tweaking, as it’s extremely hard to secure submission, yet ridiculously easy to perform sweeps from the guard. The harder difficulty settings alleviate some of these problems, but you shouldn’t have to go to the hardest setting to get an authentic fight experience.

To complete the MMA’s stylized combat mechanics; EA Sports MMA features some of the most fluid animation and movement in any fight game. Fighter’s arms and legs even get tangled up, really shows off EA’s skill at creating two truly individual fighters doing battle in an actual fight rather than just the standard hit and reaction that we’ve become accustomed to. With two good players, the fights can look stunning; with each character looking and acting believably like a real MMA fighter.

Apart from the Fight Now mode, which is just a standard fight, there is just a Career Mode for single-playing. Thankfully, the Career mode is extremely deep. The game avoided the same mistake of other MMA games and actually made the training exercises not boring. MMA’s career mode doesn’t have those unnecessary interviews and public appearances that take away from the real point of things: learning new moves, training to build stamina and strength, and fighting.

During the CAF process, EA has a number of pre-voiced names you can select for your fighter, so you’re not just hearing generic names said by the announcer, i.e. the ninja, dragon, lightening, but real first and last names. First names like Anderson, Brock, BJ, Chuck, and last names like Griffin, Jackson, and Silva are available to select. (I personally marked out for being able to create Japanese wrestling legend Akira Maeda.) And unlike UFC Undisputed, you can actually choose entrance music, entrance mannerisms, and pre- and post-fight celebrations. While it’s a minor thing, it really adds to the game playing experience.

Once again EA Sports has produced a stellar fighting game. While the ground game is difficult to master, the superb stand up striking dimension, Career Mode, character selection, and overall presentation makes this an easy must-own game. The fact that the game modes are limited make for a more enjoyable experience as you either build your fighter and try to dominate the fight world or go online and whip everyone’s ass that dare challenge you.

Check out the final roster list for UFC Undisputed 2010, which hits stores on May 25, 2010.

Undisputed Producer Neven Dravinski and MMA Manager Ed Soares discuss training camps, game tracking, immersion and other enhancements to UFC Undisputed 2010’s Career Mode.

Brand new BJ Penn trailer for UFC Undisputed 2010.

Check out these new screenshots of UFC heavyweight Cain Velasquez from THQ’s UFC Undisputed 2010.

Hit the jump for more images.

All New Cage Positions

Over the weekend we brought you the UFC Undisputed box art featuring Brock Lesnar. Today THQ announced brand new improvements to the upcoming title and revealed brand new screenshots. Check them out

Over 100 photorealistic UFC Fighters.

All new submissions.

New positions for 2010.

Sway and Counter for maximum combat efficiency.

Improved targeting and reaction system.

Unparalleled MMA Combat

Finish the fight from any position!

THQ announced yesterday that Brock Lesnar would be featured on the cover of UFC Undisputed 2010. UFC Undisputed 2010 will be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 25.