Fighters are color-coded based on their starting abilities, and it’s the “gold” fighters such as Dominick Cruz, Carlos Condit, Jon Jones, etc. who have the highest starting stats, and appear as “boss” characters in the main events (usually every fight in the multiple of ten). As these guys have nice stats from the get-go, it’s imperative that you focus on training them more than your other fighters.
If your opponent’s health is at the 35 to 40 percent mark or so, that’s when you should go for the takedown and ground-and-pound him a bit before going for a submission. For most fighters, submissions are unlocked when they reach level 5, so as a bonus tip, you should focus on leveling them up early on so that you can unlock your submissions as soon as possible.
We’re not sure if this is a bug, or if it’s really part of the game, but this is what we call “reverse fever mode” – it’s cost this writer quite a few fights, so with that said, this is as much a warning as it is a tip.
On some occasions, it would seem as if you’d knocked your opponent out cold, but the fight would go on with the other guy still on his feet. And you have no choice but to tough it out, as you won’t be able to hit any special moves or even pause or quit the game until the fight is over. If you’re not careful, you could end up losing the fight if your opponent sneaks in a special move or two. With all that said, we suggest going toe-to-toe with your opponent and trying to hit consecutive jabs to knock him off his feet and end the match for good.
Some of the game’s challenges will require you to win consecutive fights by ground KO or by submission. Now, it’s a good idea to grind it out by replaying a previous fight, but you don’t want to face someone whose stats are much lower than yours. Even if you build up your special skills by hitting the puniest of jabs and no special moves, you may still knock him out on his feet if it takes too long for a takedown card to appear. Worse, you may accidentally hit your special move on the guy even if you try to miss it, and that’s going to break your streak easy.
Need more EA Sports UFC tips and tricks? Check out our guide on how to earn more coins in the game. And if you’re a real die-hard EA Sports UFC fan, you want to take a look at our premium strategy guide, which explains you how to win the hardest fights in the game and ultimately become a champion.