How did you make sure that all of the fighters are balanced? You have guys like Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, guys with big names and huge power, but how do you balance them against guys that are lesser known?

That’s sort of the challenge. In every division you have guys that are at the top of the division and at the bottom of the division. Going in those fighters’ skills and stats we try and balance it… Everyone’s in the UFC for a reason. In every division their goal should be that they’re fighting for a title. Essentially, if you’re in the UFC you’re good, period.

There’s a disparity between someone at the very top and someone at the very bottom, but it’s not to say that you can’t be successful, you know? So certain stats are skewed. Maybe this guy has a higher standing/striking and he’s a lower tier guy; when you look at a top tier guy all of his stats are higher, his cardio, his defense and whatnot. The stats… aren’t rigid. They all apply to percentages, and they apply to situational advantages and disadvantages. Player input counts for a lot. You can’t button mash your way through the game so if you invest time in learning things and playing smart, you’re going to have success. Obviously that percentage of success increases as you pick a guy who’s at the top of each division, but again, it still allows the lower input guys to have good goings as well.

Chuck Liddell has his signature spinning back fist. Do all of the fighters have their own unique abilities, or am I going to be doing the same Superman punch every time I try and pull off a powerful punch?

Well, no. The way we specialize each guy is that we have the striking styles and grappling styles within each [fighting] style. So all kickboxers, say, have the Superman punch. All Muay Thai guys have the Muay Thai clinch with the whips. All of the BJJ guys have the rubber guard. But within each of those disciplines… we sprinkle with their own unique moves and animations. Like George St Pierre has his axe kick; Chuck has his special, signature overhead right. So individual guys that have stuff they’re known for doing will have those abilities.

So it breaks down more by fighting style than individual fighters.

It’s more about the class. It’s going back to that idea that it’s more about the sport of mixed martial arts. Guys are more proficient within each style than other people. So there will be uniqueness in the rankings and the stats, as well as some individual maneuvers.

Did you guys do any motion capturing for the game?

We did a lot of motion capture… as well as a lot of hand animating. The stuff that we’re doing with the paired animations and the single animations, it’s like an animation nightmare. You have guys that are independently punching and kicking each other, going to the ground, struggling, doing submissions and moves without any penetration. So technologically speaking, it was a nightmare, but we’re very happy with the results and I think we’re going to set the bar for a lot of other games that are coming out. While it’s still accessible, it’s still very deep and representative of a real fight. You’re going to see punches skipping off of arms, not clipping, giving you a much more realistic representation [of a fight].

Regarding DLC. Are you guys doing anything with it in the future?

Yeah, there will be DLC. The two winners of the last Ultimate Fighter [Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero] will be available at GameStop when you get the game.

We'd like to thank Neven for taking the time to chat with us. UFC 2009 Undisputed will be available May 19th. Look for our full review soon.

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you .