As a child of the ’80s, I was a huge fan of video games. The greatest era for me was the explosion of fighting games in the early ’90s.
The two powerhouses in those days were the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter franchises. In the later part of the decade, games like Tekken—and, to a much lesser extent, Virtua Fighter—came on the scene. The concept of these games was to match fighters with varying backgrounds and different fighting styles against one another to determine the best.
Sound familiar?
Mixed martial arts—as we know it today—began with the concept of matching the best fighters of various fighting styles from around the world. In a tribute to one of the greatest eras in gaming, here’s a look at some of the UFC notables and which of the biggest fighting game characters they most resemble.