UFC 6 Career Mode

Dear EA,

I want to share some suggestions that would make the UFC 6 career mode the best of the series. While I haven’t played much online in UFC 5, I have played about a dozen full career modes in UFC 5 and recently played a full one on UFC 3. In addition, I would say I am an above average watcher of the sport as well and have been to 2 UFC events (This will come in later I promise). Here are the following suggestions:

Intros : Firstly, the fighter intros need to be better. Similar to UFC 3, there needs to be the full intros by Bruce Buffer. In addition, one should be able to clearly make out the difference between undercard/prelim fights, Co-main, and main event fights, just like how it is in real life. Just like UFC 3, Bruce should introduce the judges and referee (if there could be more referees added like UFC 3, that would be nice but this might not be possible).This is a little stretch, but if Bruce says “We are Live” for first fights of Prelims and of the main card which I will get into later. Finally with the intros, having all title fights have the flag of the fighters nation around the Octagon when Bruce says “it’s time” is a must.

Walkouts : While I know it’s hard to license different walkout songs, I believe using the EA tracks are a good medium. However, just like UFC 3, walkouts should occur for every single fight, not just title fights. For non title fights, the arena should be lit up a slight bit with white lights being used and have the colored names appear on the Jumbotron and other displays in the arena (fighter pictures alongside these names would be nice), just like real life. For title fights, and main events of fight nights, the arena should go dark and have the respective color lights used for each fighter, just like how it is in UFC 5. One change I would make is allowing fighters to change the color of their walkouts for title fights, to add realism. For example, Sean O’Malley has his signature pink/purple walkout and Alex Pereira has his green. Also, if there could be graphics playing on the Octagon and on displays in arena, just like in real life.

Arenas : No matter what stage of the career you are in UFC 5, the arena always seems filled. This is one of the most important suggestions. If you are on the prelims, the arena should be almost empty (about 25% full). If you are the featured Prelim, the arena should be about 50% full. If you are on the main card, about 75%. And if you are Co-Main/Main event, there should be no empty seats. These capacities should range in each fight just to spice things up (about +/- 10%). They are also impacted by Hype of fight but I will get more into that later. While I belive the selection of arenas is great in UFC 5, there needs to be Apex fight nights. This would only add realism to the game. Also, the octagon size should be smaller in apex, to add realism. Furthermore, if you are a hometown fighter in the arena, you should get an extra pop from the crowd.

Fight Locations on Cards : In UFC 5, you can be the most exciting fighter on a six fight win streak, and still be on the prelims of a fight night. This needs to be changed. If you are an exciting fighter, i.e have a lot of finishes, you should be on main cards only, just like how Bo Nikal and Sean O’Malley were on Main cards on huge pay per views. If you have less finishes, you should be on prelims. If you are a ranked fighter, being the featured prelim makes sense. If you are a top 5 ranked fighter, you should only be on main cards. In addition, in UFC 5 it is apart of the story to main event a fight night. Seemingly, this takes place way too early in the career. Usually, this part happens when you are a 10-15 ranked fighter fighting another at the same rank. This would never happen. For these main events, they should have at least one fighter in top 5, or both in top 10. These should all be related to the hype of a fight as well.

Custom Shorts : While you could use non-ufc shorts in UFC 5 in place of custom shorts, this shouldn’t need to happen. As custom shorts become more and more popular, they need to have a place in the game. This could be easily done by making an editor with just the tattoo selections in the game for graphics with more color choices. These shorts should only be used in career mode, in order to not mess with the other accessories in game. They should be given before the first title defense in order to add some difficulty to get them and add some realism. 

Pre/Post fight : With weight cutting being an important part in the UFC, this needs to be a part of the game. In addition to the fitness bar, there should be a number displaying current weight. If you miss weight, you should be fined by UFC and face consequences. Also having the title and non-title max weights be different would add to realism. Getting that last pound off for your first title fight should be a little challenging. But this shouldn’t be overdone to take away from the actual fighting. There should also be a weigh in show, where you can see all your hard work pay off. There should also be a pre fight press conference where you can talk to other fighters and boost your fight hype, similar to how the social media works in UFC 5. There should also be a post fight press conference in order to boost fans. 

All in all, most of these suggestions could be implimented using current technology from ufc 3 and 5. If all of these are added, UFC 6 will be the best in the series by far. Thanks for reading all of this, and feel free to leave your own suggestions.