Israel Adesanya, Shevchenko, Volkanovski Revealed as EA Sports UFC 5 Cover Athletes
September 5, 2023
When Israel Adesanya graced the cover of UFC 4 three years ago, he was considered a rising up-and-comer.
Now, standing as arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, Adesanya is back on the cover for UFC 5.
EA Sports announced Stylebender as the deluxe cover athlete for UFC 5, with Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko serving as the standard edition cover athletes.
EA SPORTS UFC @EASPORTSUFCThe Main Character is here 🕹️<br><br>Stylebender has returned as your <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC5?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC5</a> Deluxe Edition cover athlete 🏹<br><br>See the full reveal 9/7<br>➡️ <a href="https://t.co/Buf42tWtjV">https://t.co/Buf42tWtjV</a> <a href="https://t.co/R0jjrW6zWR">pic.twitter.com/R0jjrW6zWR</a>
EA SPORTS UFC @EASPORTSUFCThe Great 🤝 The Bullet<br><br>Your <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC5?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC5</a> Standard Edition cover athletes Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko 🤜💥🤛<br><br>See the full reveal 9/7<br>➡️ <a href="https://t.co/Buf42tWtjV">https://t.co/Buf42tWtjV</a> <a href="https://t.co/ddDQPAp4yu">pic.twitter.com/ddDQPAp4yu</a>
UFC's last video game release came all the way back in August 2020 and marks the longest stretch between games in the series' history. EA Sports launched its UFC series in 2014, with each subsequent release coming two years later.
The COVID-19 pandemic and launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles were the main culprits in a slower development period between UFC 4 and UFC 5.
Details on the upcoming release are still being rolled out. EA Sports says to expect more concrete details later this week, and expect fight fans to rabidly look to pick up the game upon its release later this year.