Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is now a playable fighter in EA Sports UFC 3 and as players know, that makes a very weird encounter now possible.
Specifically, this:
Weigh-ins and news conferences are part of EA Sports UFC 3’s many presentational enhancements. You can import fighters into a career mode where they are most often seen, but I’m not sure exactly how you can get two Dana Whites to go at it, separated by himself (themself?). White was added to the roster through a free DLC update yesterday, so he’s available right now.
“For all of you who have wanted to punch me in the face for the last 20 years, now is your chance,” White says. That would be many a fight fan.
“From what EA tells me, the fans have been asking for this for a long time,” White told Game Informer. “They asked me if I would be willing to do it and I said, ‘Yes, I think it’s great.’ It’s fun.”
White has been part of EA Sports UFC since the first game launched in 2014, but only in interstitial scenes, typically in the career mode but also in the welcoming videos that onboard new users. He’s not the first league executive to be in a video game — the NFL’s Roger Goodell and the NBA’s Adam Silver (and his predecessor, David Stern) appear in their licensed titles. He is, to my knowledge, the first to be playable as someone created by the developer (as opposed to created by a user and shared with other users).
And EA Sports made him tough. Probably artificially tough, but what the hell. He fights in the light heavyweight division and has a 91 (!!!) striking rating and a 90 health attribute. “If you’re looking to stand and trade with the boss, you might just get knocked out,” says the EA Sports news release. He fights in a boxer style, so it might be better to take him to the mat, but “White’s no slouch on the ground, either, with a grappling rating of 87 and an 86 in stamina,” the statement said.
When you’re the boss, I suppose you get the benefit of the doubt.