Apparently UFC president Dana White is not a fan of EA Sports. In fact, he claims he and UFC are “at war” with EA. This announcement comes just after the UFC 100 match on Saturday. White wants it to be well known that anyone who sides with EA in this face-off will not be favored by the UFC.

Evidently, EA passed on the video game rights to the UFC franchise some time ago. “EA Sports told us, ‘You’re not a real sport,’” White said. “‘We wouldn’t touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this.’” THQ took up the rights instead, helping to publish UFC Undisputed 2009, which has shipped over 2 million units since May.

Now that EA is putting their marketing and publishing power behind the upcoming EA MMA, White is furious. “You [EA Sports] told us you’d never be in business with us. They wouldn’t even take a meeting because mixed martial arts disgusted them. This wasn’t a real sport. Boy, they got over that real quick, didn’t they?”

White went on to say that any MMA fighter who signs their likeness rights away to EA will be blacklisted from UFC competition. “I’m not tap-dancing around this thing or whatever,” White said. “I’m telling you straight-up, I’m at war with them right now. That’s how I look at it.”

I have to question what kind of game EA Sports hopes to get out of EA MMA now that White will not allow UFC fighters to participate in its creation. Sure, there are other MMA franchises, but none have the popularity or name recognition of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. One thing is certain: competition only drives developers and publishers to make a better product, so gamers will be the real winners in this heated battle.

(Thanks to Jeff, AKA xI3 3 A S Tx, for the heads up on this one.)

You didn’t really think EA was going to sit back and watch someone run with the MMA genre all by themselves, did you? Don’t make me and Shinya Aoki (right) laugh. Just because THQ has the UFC license locked up, that doesn’t mean the entire sport has had “dibs” called on it.

Yes, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is the name of the sport and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is just one of the companies that holds events and promotes fighters, despite what you may have heard. The UFC hosts Mixed Martial Arts fights, not “Ultimate Fighting”.

EA Tiburon is set to take on the challenge of translating this multifaceted sport into a video game. You may recognize the developers as home to the Madden NFL and Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchises. Pretty high quality games. The official website tells readers that “EA SPORTS MMA will feature the most authentic, intense and broad mixed martial arts experience to date – complete with a vast array of top fighters and fighting styles from around the world.”

It may seem impossible to think that a game about MMA without the UFC license would even be considered, but the hardcore MMA fans might be quick to point out a few noticeable holes in the UFC roster that EA is no doubt looking to fill.

The game is set to be released next year on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

I know what some of are you thinking: Hang on a tic — these games don’t already have online co-op? Short answer: nope.

Madden NFL 10 will be the first in the Madden football franchise  to offer online co-op, allowing you and your buddies to play on the same team against another team full of online folks. Players can take any position, be it offensive or defensive, and get their Madden on together. This will go a long way to ease inexperienced players into the extremely stiff competition provided by Madden NFL’s online gaming community.

In addition to the announcement of online co-op, EA Sports also stated that there will be other new online features announced at the annual gaming convention E3 next week. That being said, I’d like to know what online features you would like. Personally, I’d like a free pizza delivered to my door every time I go online. Call me a dreamer.

We’ve come a long way from the Madden games of yore, eh? Well, John Madden’s hair has anyway…

EA Sports announced the release date for Madden NFL 10 (I still hate that title): August 14, 2009. But first, we’ll get a sneak peak of the cover athlete (AKA some doomed sucker) on April 24th.

I’m sure you armchair quarterbacks are thrilled to know the date so you can plan accordingly (i.e. call off from work). Me? Hey, another year, another Madden game. I’ll start caring when they throw in robots and cannibal cheerleaders.