Anderson Silva will kick UFC Undisputed 3's cover in the head

Many people believe that football stars that are selected to grace the cover of EA's yearly Madden games are "cursed" once they appear on the game's box. Often, after showing up on the cover, players have their worst year yet, with many suffering injuries or simply failing to live up to their potential. So far, the last two fighters to show up on THQ's UFC games have suffered similar failings: the 2009 cover star, Forrest Griffin, lost his next fight to Anderson Silva in a fairly embarrassing showing. 2010's cover featured the massive, unstoppable Brock Lesnar, who... also was defeated soon after, being knocked out in the first round against Cain Velasquez.

And now, carrying a 34-3-0 record into the Octagon is the fan's pick for UFC Undisputed 3's cover: Anderson Silva.

Over 110,000 fans voted from around the world, picking "The Spider" over UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, or UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. The reason is fairly obvious: Silva is simply more fun to watch. He's a freaking Jedi, literally dodging punches and dancing around his opponents while delivering precise strikes. The only bad things anyone says about him is that he, too often, jokes around while fighting because he doesn't feel challenged. We've infrequently seen an Anderson Silva who wasn't dominating an opponent, but once he does... wow, that's going to be quite the fight.

UFC Undisputed 3 is due out in January for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with over 150 playable fighters to beat the living hell out of. We can't wait.

Oct 11, 2011

Hollander Cooper

Hollander Cooper was the Lead Features Editor of GamesRadar+ between 2011 and 2014. After that lengthy stint managing GR's editorial calendar he moved behind the curtain and into the video game industry itself, working as social media manager for EA and as a communications lead at Riot Games. Hollander is currently stationed at Apple as an organic social lead for the App Store and Apple Arcade.