EA Sports officially announced the cover athletes for EA Sports UFC 5 on Tuesday —former UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski and UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya. In-game renders of Shevchenko and Volkanovski are featured on the game’s box art, while Adesanya is featured on the Deluxe edition. Adesanya now joins Conor McGregor as the only UFC fighter to make the EA Sports UFC cover twice. More details on the game will be released this Thursday.
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Shevchenko won the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship back in December 2018 and set multiple records with seven consecutive title defenses. She dropped the title to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 back in March and is set for a rematch at UFC Fight Night 227 on Sept. 16.
Volkanovski has been the UFC Featherweight Champion ever since he dethroned Max Holloway at UFC 245 in late 2019. While he came up short in becoming a two-division champion against UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev in February, he managed to beat interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in July.
As for Adesanya, “The Stylebender” saw his UFC Middleweight Championship reign end in shocking fashion against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November 2022. He managed to redeem himself by winning the title back from Pereira with a second-round knockout at UFC 287 in April. He’ll defend his title this weekend against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
Could Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey Return to the UFC?
The UFC’s parent company, Endeavor, is currently in the process of merging the MMA promotion with the WWE to form a new company, TKO Group. Ever since the merger was announced back in April, there has been speculation of WWE stars (and former UFC Champions) like Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey returning to the Octagon. UFC president Dana White has shut down both rumors in recent interviews.
“Brock looks good, doesn’t he? He always does. I think Brock’s done,” White told Sports Illustrated last month. “I don’t think he ever comes back.”
“There’s no shot. She’s accomplished everything she set out to do. Her dream was to win a UFC championship, then win a WWE championship, and she’s done it,” White told SI. “Now she’s starting a family. Ronda has made so much money, and she’s still making a lot of money in sponsorships.”
