Was it ever in question?
She's only the face of mixed martial arts (MMA) and one of the most popular athletes in the world. On Friday, EA Sports announced Ronda Rousey as the cover subject of its highly-anticipated UFC 2 title, which is scheduled for a spring 2016 release on PS4 and Xbox One.
EA announced the cover with a 46-second clip uploaded to its YouTube account Friday, showing gameplay of a stone-cold Rousey walking to the Octagon and the UFC women's bantamweight champion herself describing what it feels like to land the cover of the impending game.
"EA Sports is almost like a cultural barometer, where you could really see what's going on with sports at the moment," Rousey says in the clip. "The games that I played growing up, I remembered them as part of my childhood and part of how I saw the world at the time. As a gamer myself and growing up a little overly obsessed with video games, it's pretty surreal to be on the cover of a game myself."
She added that her being the cover subject of the title is important for another reason as well.
"To have a woman on the cover of a UFC game, it shows a lot of progress," Rousey said.
UFC 2 is already being praised for its "Knockout Physics System," which will have gamers feeling every unique impact and finish of MMA's most chin-checking and ground-and-pound moments. EA also promises that the game includes "the smoothest, most-responsive set of movements ever available in an MMA game that will add new dimensions to your stand-up, ground game and everything in between."
The cover was announced at the onset of a weekend that will have Rousey put her bantamweight title on the line against Holly Holm in Australia on Sunday.
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