From Israel Adesanya to Conor McGregor: A look at all the UFC fighters who have graced the cover of EA Sports’ games

EA Sports UFC 5 will have Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko as the cover athletes while Israel Adesanya will be the cover athlete for the Deluxe edition of the game. The anticipation about the EA Sports UFC 5 game is at its peak. The fifth installment in the franchise is coming after three years and it promises several new features and a unique gameplay experience to the fans.

One thing that has generated a lot of curiosity about the EA Sports UFC franchise is the cover athletes. The fighters that grace the cover usually represent the pinnacle of competitive abilities in the UFC. In many ways, being on the cover is equivalent to being ‘one of the best’ if not ‘the best’ athletes in the UFC.

In this article, we’ll take a look at all the athletes, from Israel Adesanya to Conor McGregor, who appeared on the cover of the EA Sports UFC video game series.

1. UFC 1 - Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson

Heading into his UFC 165 title fight against a relatively unknown Alexander Gustafsson, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had never been taken down or outstruck in his MMA career. Bones was the next-generation talent that had been pushing aside the old guard in a dominant fashion, never losing a round in his career until that point.

The sole loss of his career came via disqualification in a fight he was winning. All of that changed when the 6ft-5in tall Swede gave the champion a run for the money and nearly snatched the fight. This was the first time that Jon Jones felt like a human in the octagon. However, his greatness lies in the fact that he beat Gustafsson on his best night.

The fight won several accolades and he was also inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame. No wonder Gustafsson and Jones found their way on the cover of EA Sports’ inaugural UFC video game that was released in June 2014, nine months after their epic battle.

2. UFC 2 - Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey

Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva were the most dominant champions the UFC ever had. Coincidentally, they were also the biggest pay-per-view draw on the UFC roster. However, the UFC’s money-making machine took a major blow in 2013-14 with Georges St-Pierre’s retirement, Anderson Silva’s loss of title, and Jon Jones’ run-ins with the law.

Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey emerged as the new star faces of the organization and took the market by storm from 2014-2016, even surpassing the Silva-Jones-St-Pierre trio in some matrices.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that McGregor and Rousey were also the first truly global pure MMA stars and expanded the sport’s footprint in unchartered territories. No wonder the duo graced the cover of UFC 2, which was released in March 2016.

3. UFC 3 - Conor McGregor

After becoming the first ever simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history, Conor McGregor tried his hand at boxing and put up a good fight against boxing great Floyd Mayweather in 2017. The boxing match generated over $600 million in revenue and became one of the biggest combat sports events in history. The Irishman’s position as the biggest MMA star was unshakable at this point and he remained on the cover of the third installment in the EA Sports UFC video game franchise.

4. UFC 4 - Israel Adesanya and Jorge Masvidal

Israel Adesanya and Jorge Masvidal represent the opposite ends of the spectrum from a competitive perspective. Israel Adesanya cruised past the opposition and occupied the top spot in the UFC middleweight division within two years. Meanwhile, Masvidal was always known as a solid fighter who ended up on the wrong side of split decisions on most occasions.

However, he flipped the switch in 2019 and became one of the biggest pay-per-view stars at the time with back-to-back impressive wins over Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz. It took Masvidal six full years in the UFC to get on the must-watch list of fans but he made it there eventually. In 2020, the UFC 4 cover brought together these men who represent two separate breeds of special athletes.

Israel Adesanya became the second athlete after Conor McGregor to be on the cover on two separate occasions.

5. UFC 5 - Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko

MMA has evolved significantly over the last few years and Israel Adesanya's teammate Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko represent the evolution with their insane ability to win the fight in every aspect of the sport. Incidentally, both these fighters are also the longest reigning in the current scenario. While Shevchenko lost the UFC flyweight title after seven successful defenses, Volkanovski is still going strong in the featherweight division.

While most EA Sports cover athletes are special individuals, one thing that binds them together is the dreaded UFC cover athlete curse. As stupid and unscientific as the concept of curse is, it makes things interesting and gives fans something to talk about as well.

Every athlete that graced the cover of EA Sports UFC video game, barring the exception of Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya, has lost their next fight in the UFC.

Alexander Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya, and Valentina Shevchenko are gearing up for their next fights. It will be interesting to see if they can beat the curse and take the fear off of fans’ minds, especially Israel Adesanya who will beat the curse twice if he defeats Sean Strickland this weekend!