https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=27397

   EA MMA for the Xbox 360 is EA's answer to UFC's Undisputed series.  There are several who believe this game is better than the UFC's current Undisputed title, UFC Undisputed 2010.  I like both of the games, but I would have to say that I prefer EA's MMA game.  The game has a fun career mode, which lets you start as an unknown person who gets to train with professional trainers around the world such as Bas Rutten, Randy Couture, Pat Miletich, and more.  You start as a no-name fighter in a low-end fighting organization and fight your way to the top, eventually fighting your way to the top name organizations and fight for the championship title of your weight class.
   The first thing the player will notice is that the controls are much different than in UFC's game.  In EA MMA, you use the same motion controls that are used in EA's Fight Night boxing series.  These controls feel perfect for a mixed martial arts game: every movement of the right analog stick will throw a kick or punch, based on how it is pressed.  Pressing the stick in either an up-left or up-right direction will throw a jab (or leg kick, if you have the kick button held [LB]).  Pressing the right analog stick either left or right, then in an upward curving motion towards up throws a hook (or head kick, if you have the kick button held [LB]).  The right bumper serves as a "body-hit" button, which means any punches or kicks you throw with the right bumper held down will go to your opponent's body.  There are also some special attacks you can throw while standing up, including superman punches, haymaker punches, spinning back fists, and flying knees.  These make fighting while standing much less predictable than simply throwing punches and kicks and are frequently used in mixed martial arts, so they are great additions to the game.
   There are also health/stamina bars that show up as the fight goes on.  Your stamina bar is always showing, and you have to keep an eye on it.  If your stamina falls too low you are susceptible to damage from punches and kicks because you are too tired to defend yourself, so it is imperative to keep enough stamina to always be able to defend.  When you or your opponent take too much damage to a certain section of your body (such as your head or torso), it has its own health meter that shows temporarily.  This shows you that you need to defend the section, while it shows your opponent that the section is hurting you so they should continue trying to attack that section to try to finish you.  This makes the game more realistic: in a real MMA match, your opponent can tell when your body, head, or legs are starting to take too much punishment and they would then be able to capitalize.  This realism adds another level of fun to the game.
   The takedown and submission system is superior to any other game of its type in my opinion.  Takedowns are simple: press A to shoot in for a takedown, or tap up or down quickly then press A to go for a single-leg takedown (which are harder to defend).  Once there on the ground, you can use the right analog stick to throw punches (a.k.a. ground & pound), press A to advance your position on the ground, or press X to go for a submission.  For arm and leg submissions, the arm or leg bone shows, and the person attempting the submission must tap X to apply pressure in order to make the person tap out (the arm or leg bone turns red when pressure is applied, and completely turns red when too much pressure is applied so the person will tap out) but each time X is pressed the player's stamina drains, so the person applying the submission must carefully press X and not drain their stamina too quickly in order to successfully make the opponent tap out.  For chokes, a circle appears on the screen and an invisible marker spins around the circle.  Both players must move the left analog stick around to try to find the spot (the controller vibrates when the spot is found and followed) and the person who successfully finds the spot more either successfully chokes the opponent out or escapes the choke being attempted on them.  These min-games to apply submissions give both players equal opportunity to either complete or escape the submission, and add another level of fun to the game.
   The roster of the game is made up of fighters that fight for organizations outside the UFC (other than a few: Randy Couture and Vladimir Matyushenko when the game came out, but now also Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Jake Shields, and Nick Diaz), mainly fighters from the Strikeforce organization.  These fighters may not be recognizable to people who have only watched mixed martial arts in the UFC, but to hardcore mixed martial arts fans who have watched other organizations or have watched for a while will recognize.  These fighters include Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Cung Le, Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski, Pat Miletich, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, and more.  Each of these fighters has a different fighting style, so they each play differently and take time to master.
   All in all, this is an addictive game which I recommend to any mixed martial arts fans, or to anyone who enjoys fighting games.

Graphics: 9/10
   The characters look great: it's almost like you are watching an event live.  The animations of the attacks and reactions look great and very lifelike.

Gameplay: 9.5/10
   Great controls make fighting in this game addictively entertaining, and the mini-games to attempt or defend a submission are a fun addition.

Sound: 8.5/10
   Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock provide commentary during fights, which makes it feel like you are actually watching a Strikeforce event.

Replayability: 10/10
   I could play this game every day without getting tired.  With so many different fighters to choose from and so many different ways to win a fight, there is a lot of gameplay fun to be had here.

Achievements: 7.5/10
   Some of the achievements are simple: play through career mode twice, fighting in each organization and winning every organization's championship title.  Some of the achievements encourage us to do "dream match-ups" in fights, such as Frank Shamrock vs. Ken Shamrock, and Fedor Emilianenko vs. Randy Couture.  There are some fun achievements also: Foot Fight (win a fight using only kicks), Hands of Stone (win a fight using only punches), and The Impossible (beat Fedor Emilianenko in a single player fight on the hardest difficulty).  While some of the single player achievements are difficult, it is the difficult online achievements that lost this game some points from me.

Overall: 9/10
   Definitely recommend this to any MMA fans or fighting game fans in general.