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

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!