Nick Diaz, Marius Zaromskis, Joe Riggs and Melvin Manhoef also in for "EA Sports MMA"
Shortly after Bobby Lashley was announced on today's edition of ESPN.com's "MMA Live" as the latest addition to "EA Sports MMA," four more fighters involved in this weekend's "Strikeforce: Miami" event were also confirmed for the game.
Nick Diaz (20-7 MMA, 2-0 SF), Marius Zaromskis (13-3 MMA, 0-0 SF), Joe Riggs (32-10 MMA, 3-2 SF) and Melvin Manhoef (24-6-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) will all appear in the upcoming rival to THQ's "UFC Undisputed" franchise.
The latest additions to the forthcoming video game's roster were announced in an ESPN.com interview with Lashley.
Diaz and Zaromskis will be featured in the main event of Saturday's "Strikeforce: Miami" event in Sunrise, Fla., when the pair contests the promotion's vacant welterweight title
Diaz enters the title fight with a five-fight win streak and a 9-1 record since May 2006. (The lone loss came to Strikeforce signee K.J. Noons under the EliteXC banner in late 2007.)
Diaz was originally slated to fight Jay Hieron for the title this past August but skipped a mandatory pre-fight drug test and wasn't licensed for the bout. Hieron, who instead defeated Jesse Taylor at the show, had hoped he'd get the fight with Diaz, but it instead went to Zaromskis, who announced a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce this past October.
Zaromskis enters the bout with a five-win streak, which included a successful run to win the DREAM welterweight grand prix in late 2009. After defeating Seichi Ikemoto via decision, the Lithuanian fighter knocked out Hayato "Mach" Sakurai and Jason High to win the tournament and DREAM's welterweight title. Most recently he knocked out Ho Bae Myeon in a non-title fight at DREAM.12 this past October.
Riggs will be featured in a "Strikeforce: Miami" preliminary card bout with Jay Hieron that will stream live on EASportsMMA.com. Both Riggs and Hieron are considered top welterweight contenders and could be in line to face the winner of the Diaz vs. Zaromskis contest.
Finally, Manhoef will also be seen on the main card of this weekend's Showtime-broadcast "Strikeforce: Miami" event when he meets fellow middleweight slugger Robbie Lawler.
The four fighters join an official "EA Sports MMA" roster that currently includes Lashley, Shinya Aoki, Hidehiko Yoshida, Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Lawler, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Matt Lindland, Scott Smith, Josh Thomson, Nick Thompson, Brett Rogers, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Jay Hieron.
Several other fighters have confirmed their involvement but haven't been announced by EA. For instance, the ESPN.com interview features screenshots of Lashley alongside veteran heavyweight Jeff Monson, who also has not been officially announced for the "EA Sports MMA" title.
EA Sports, founded in 1982, has produced additional sports titles geared around NCAA football and basketball, the NBA, NHL, FIFA and NASCAR, among others. The California-based company has delivered massively popular videogame series such as "Madden NFL" and "Tiger Woods PGA TOUR."
Shortly after Bobby Lashley was announced on today's edition of ESPN.com's "MMA Live" as the latest addition to "EA Sports MMA," four more fighters involved in this weekend's "Strikeforce: Miami" event were also confirmed for the game.
Nick Diaz (20-7 MMA, 2-0 SF), Marius Zaromskis (13-3 MMA, 0-0 SF), Joe Riggs (32-10 MMA, 3-2 SF) and Melvin Manhoef (24-6-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) will all appear in the upcoming rival to THQ's "UFC Undisputed" franchise.
The latest additions to the forthcoming video game's roster were announced in an ESPN.com interview with Lashley.
Diaz and Zaromskis will be featured in the main event of Saturday's "Strikeforce: Miami" event in Sunrise, Fla., when the pair contests the promotion's vacant welterweight title
Diaz enters the title fight with a five-fight win streak and a 9-1 record since May 2006. (The lone loss came to Strikeforce signee K.J. Noons under the EliteXC banner in late 2007.)
Diaz was originally slated to fight Jay Hieron for the title this past August but skipped a mandatory pre-fight drug test and wasn't licensed for the bout. Hieron, who instead defeated Jesse Taylor at the show, had hoped he'd get the fight with Diaz, but it instead went to Zaromskis, who announced a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce this past October.
Zaromskis enters the bout with a five-win streak, which included a successful run to win the DREAM welterweight grand prix in late 2009. After defeating Seichi Ikemoto via decision, the Lithuanian fighter knocked out Hayato "Mach" Sakurai and Jason High to win the tournament and DREAM's welterweight title. Most recently he knocked out Ho Bae Myeon in a non-title fight at DREAM.12 this past October.
Riggs will be featured in a "Strikeforce: Miami" preliminary card bout with Jay Hieron that will stream live on EASportsMMA.com. Both Riggs and Hieron are considered top welterweight contenders and could be in line to face the winner of the Diaz vs. Zaromskis contest.
Finally, Manhoef will also be seen on the main card of this weekend's Showtime-broadcast "Strikeforce: Miami" event when he meets fellow middleweight slugger Robbie Lawler.
The four fighters join an official "EA Sports MMA" roster that currently includes Lashley, Shinya Aoki, Hidehiko Yoshida, Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Lawler, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Matt Lindland, Scott Smith, Josh Thomson, Nick Thompson, Brett Rogers, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Jay Hieron.
Several other fighters have confirmed their involvement but haven't been announced by EA. For instance, the ESPN.com interview features screenshots of Lashley alongside veteran heavyweight Jeff Monson, who also has not been officially announced for the "EA Sports MMA" title.
EA Sports, founded in 1982, has produced additional sports titles geared around NCAA football and basketball, the NBA, NHL, FIFA and NASCAR, among others. The California-based company has delivered massively popular videogame series such as "Madden NFL" and "Tiger Woods PGA TOUR."