EA Sports UFC: First Glimpse of the Next-Generation UFC Game

UFC fans around the world got their first-ever glimpse at the next-generation Ultimate Fighting Championship game during today's reveal for the new Xbox One gaming system from Microsoft. 

The announcement took place at the Xbox campus in Redmond, Washington. 

During the official EA Sports presentation, we were shown interview clips from UFC stars Jon Jones and Anthony Pettis, along with Lionel Messi, Robert Griffin III and Kyrie Irving.

Jones and Pettis spoke eloquently about the fight game in short sound bites, but the cool stuff came next: We got our first official look at the next generation of EA UFC games (powered by a new engine called Ignite) with a short clip of an unknown fighter walking out in a wire-framed arena.

After the interview presentation, a trailer for four next-generation EA Sports games was shown: Madden, FIFA 14, NBA Live and UFC. 

In the EA UFC game clips, which were interspersed between rapid-fire clips from the other games, we were shown a familiar scene: Anthony Pettis running towards UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson. In the next clip, we saw Henderson backing away and Pettis beginning his ascent up the cage wall. And in the final clip, Pettis unleashed a beautiful Showtime Kick (in a UFC cage, not the WEC version) that sent Henderson's face comically sprawling about in all different directions.

The clip looked like pre-rendered art, but EA Sports representatives noted that it was what the final UFC game would look like while running on the Xbox One. 

EA Sports UFC has no scheduled release date, but is not expected until after April 2014. All four EA Sports games shown during today's media event will be released within the next 12 months, with FIFA and Madden titles expected at launch.

MORE ON EA UFC:

EA Sports UFC on Xbox One: Can it do for the UFC what Madden did for the NFL? My colleague McKinley Noble checks in with a very informed look at what the new UFC game might be able to do for the UFC's worldwide brand.

This post will be updated with more information on EA Sports UFC as it becomes available.