Alexander Volkanovski vows to debunk infamous EA Sports curse leading up to Islam Makhachev rematch at UFC 294
With the UFC 5 Cover curse looming, Alexander Volkanovski vows to change the narrative with a win.
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Alexander Volkanovski (Source: IMAGO)
EA SPORTS™ UFC® 5 launches on Oct. 27. The combat sports game has turned heads for a while now, ever since the announcement trailer and subpar graphics received heavy fan backlash. Additionally, the unique phenomenon of the UFC 5 Cover curse is back at it again. Within a month of being announced as cover, athletes for EA Sports’ UFC 5, Israel Adesanya (deluxe edition accessibility), and Valentina Shevchenko (standard edition playable) have incurred vital career losses. As such, the fate of Alexander Volkanovski hangs in balance, ahead of UFC 294.
“I love debunking all that,” said Volkanovski, speaking to the MMA Junkie. “My Aldo fight…the haircut. I debunked that ages ago. I have debunked a few things and ready to debunk a few more…I will beat the UFC cover curse.” Volkanovski had said that every time he had broken a stereotypical expectation, fans acted as though it was something big. Every time he beat an opponent against all odds, it was added to his legacy. This time would be no different.
The UFC cover curse was prominently initiated after the inaugural EA Sports “UFC” release in 2014. Following this, Jon Jones, who was featured on the cover, struggled with substance abuse and pled guilty to a hit-and-run. He thus lost his footing in the promotion.
As of late, Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey were both cover star features for EA Sports UFC 2. Subsequently, Mcgregor lost to Nate Diaz, while Rousey lost to Amanda Nunes. Moreover, McGregor lost again to Khabib Nurmagomedov, after appearing on UFC 3 cover.
The only known exception to this speculative yet hard-hitting curse is Adesanya, who broke the curse at UFC 253, with a second-round TKO, over Paulo Costa. Now, consequently, “The Great” plans to achieve the same as he goes for double-division glory at UFC 294. Time and again he has proved that he is in a league of his own making, with his only loss coming at UFC 284.
A complete concise timeline of the UFC Cover curse
The EA Sports curse is neither a new phenomenon to plague professional athletes, nor is it exclusive to combat sports. The trend began early in the 1990s. Madden NFL series players who served as feature covers, often ended up performing poorly or faced big career losses. In UFC, the curse found its footing with Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, in 2014. The former got entwined in substance abuse scandals and thus faced a pitfall.
Both of the light-heavyweight legends would incur misfortune, after earning their console spotlight at UFC 165. Gustafsson experienced a two-fight skid against Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier at UFC 192. In 2015, bantamweight phenom and champion Ronda Rousey got KO’d by Holly Holm, at UFC 193, losing the titular bout.
This was just a week ahead of her announcement as a fighter for the game. Even though he rectified his loss against Nate Diaz at UFC 202, Conor McGregor would face submission at UFC 229. Since then, he has prominently been 1-3 and sustained an injury during his Dustin Poirier trilogy fight at UFC 264.
With the release of EA UFC 5, the cover curse is once again a driving narrative within the promotion. The game’s cover and the superstitious yet potential impact it has on the fighters featured is something many MMA fans worldwide deliberate on. Added to that list is Alexander Volkanovski, who faces lightweight king Islam Makhachev for a rematch at UFC 294.
In case you missed it:
- UFC 5 video game continues to face trashing from fight fans as ONE Championship mobile game’s clip goes viral
- Alexander Volkanovski reveals magical quest for fairytale ending against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294
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Ajinkya Aswale
(1115 Articles Published)