UFC 6 Hopes From A Longtime MMA Fan and Enthusiast

I want to see the absolute BEST out of UFC 6. I have been following MMA since 2018 roughly and have played a bunch of MMA games from UFC Undisputed 2009 all the way to UFC 5. In my opinion, UFC 5 was a big improvement from UFC 4 in most areas, but lacks features that EA UFC 3, EA UFC 4, and some very small things from UFC Undisputed 3 that I'd like to see in the next entry. I will keep this short and sweet for the developers so they can take it all in at a glance.

- Submission System: I thought UFC 5 did the right thing for the new submission system by intergrading it into the ground game transitions. However, I feel like we need a "Lock It In" System. Once you hit the final transition of your submission, a Circular HUD should pop up and start a mini game that is very similar to the EA MMA/UFC Undisputed 3/UFC 4's Submission Mini Game. The bar for the offender should be about 70% completed with the defender being at 30%. In the circle, you have to either stay on top of a red quarter circle or get away from the blue quarter circle if your an offender or defender in the submission. Prompts should be on screen for the offender to chain the current submission right into a new one that moves the bar closer to completion. Prompts for the defender should be throwing a strike or using up a quick burst of stamina to shift slightly away from the submission in order to work out of it.

- Cage Sitting Position: Something that I haven't seen in any of the EA MMA games from EA MMA to UFC 5 has been the ability to sit up against the cage and utilize it to work to your feet. This small detail was in UD3 and in my opinion, would improve the realism of the game.

- Intercept Knees: This was a feature that I've only seen on UFC Undisputed 3 and EA MMA, and that is being able to stop an opponent's takedown attempt with a knee. This would be useful to counter an opponent wanting to constantly take the fight to the ground. If implemented, this would encourage users to learn the timing and tempo of a takedown to keep the fight standing up if they choose or punish someone for being too predictable.

- Clinch Game: Something I do not like in UFC 5 is the clinch game. I believe it is far too limiting and basic now as opposed to how it worked in EA UFC 3. My suggestion would be to take the EA UFC 3 clinch system and have it be entirely flick controlled. So, instead of having to hold the stick to fill a wheel up to change clinch positions, it would be a simple flick. As the defender, you must tap R2 to stop the transition to maintain dominance or continue your work to fight out of it.

-Footwork: This is the last thing on my list. I noticed in EA UFC 1, 3, 4, and 5, there seems to be a floatiness in the footwork. A lack of planting when quickly changing directions is the biggest problem for this. EA UFC 2 solved this by playing an animation to simulate transferring your weight in a proper manner that you'd see in MMA. If we could bring back those animations for quickly flicking the left stick to another position while moving, footwork would be much more weighted and fixed.

I know the series gets a lot of flack for "Not living up to THQ's UFC games" but, the team has things over THQ that people refuse to acknowledge due to these things missing. If these things were added or in the case of clinch, improved, I believe many more people would be inclined to buy EA UFC 6 and move onto the latest games.

- Leafy