EA Sports released a 47-second video on Friday announcing that Ronda Rousey would be on the cover of EA Sports UFC 2. The following day Rousey fought Holly Holm in UFC 193 where Rousey was knocked out fifty-nine seconds into the second round. It was her first defeat after twelve wins dating back to 2011. People are already talking about a UFC cover curse similar to the Madden cover curse.
Featuring female athletes on the covers of video game sports titles is starting to become a trend with EA Sports. FIFA 16, that came out earlier this year, featured Steph Catley, Christine Sinclair and Alex Morgan on the covers. Putting female athletes on the covers of sporting gaming titles is not new. Women have been featured on the covers of Olympic titles, such as Amanda Beard and Nastia Liukin on Sega’s Beijing 2008.