Current State of Online Play

So in the last few days on ps5 I have gone up against players from UK, France and Japan.  I know this because I can see their position in leaderboards from other regions plus psn displays their nation and language. 

In three years of playing UFC 4 I never once had match-ups with international players. The ping is generally terrible, and if the ping happens to be good, it seems as if the host is at a big advantage.

So I guess my point is that not even one year into the game, the player base is a fraction of what UFC 4 was two-plus years into its cycle.

Maybe offering up 10x evolution points or something would get a player base up on online career.  OWC/ranked is problematic because of the weight class issues, the higher division tactics that end up not even closely resembling an mma fight, and the repetitive fighter selection.  

In short, the player base is dwindling. 

Are you aware of these issues @EA_Mako  ?  I know there's a boxing game that just came  out and it doesn't impress me but it seems like players are jumping ship.  That might change and people might come back but people are indeed bailing. There needs to be more done/addressed than alter egos and new fighters no one will use in ranked.  Unless UFC 6 is right around the corner then hopefully the player base somehow increases with new strategies for engagement.