I didn't play the previous game and while I like MMA, I am no expert or usual viewer. But here are my main observations about Career Mode in UFC Undisputed 2010 to help people make decisions:
Basically, you start off, and you create a fighter from scratch - his looks, his AI fighting style, his basic skills, tattoos and weight class. When he's done, you begin.
You get introduced to your trainer and get right into it. After winning, you have the choice of turning pro or not. The best bet here is to say no - you are REALLY going to need to boost your core stats and skills before turning pro. The core stats are (out of 100):
STRENGTH - important for strike power and CRUCIAL for submissions
SPEED - crucial for strikes and takedowns
CARDIO - crucial for submissions and defending against takedowns/grapples
They start off at level 1 and can be improved to level 3. They are improved by getting new trainers. They have cut-off points at which the points will not decay further, and they are:
Level 1 - 30 (get each stat to 30 at level 1 and they won't decay past 30)
Level 2 - 50 (get each stat to 50 at level 2 and they won't decay past 50)
Level 3 - 70 (get each stat to 70 at level 3 and they won't decay past 70)
The core skills are (out of 100):
Striking offense
Striking defense
Kicking offense
Kicking defense
Clinching offense
Clinching defense
Grappling offense
Grappling defense
Takedown offense
Takedown defense
Ground strike offense
Ground strike defense
Ground grapple offense
Ground grapple defense
Submission offense
Submission defense
Similar to the stats, the skills have three tiers where they stop decaying - at 30, 50 and 70. So when you get your striking offense to level 30, it stops decaying.
The skills are improved by sparring - you have the choice of auto sparring or manual. ALWAYS manual spar. You also have the choice of free sparring or focus sparring. Always go for free and I'll explain why:
To get from 0 to 30, you need 1 point to advance (ie: 30 skill points gets you to 30 of one skill).
To get from 30 to 50, you need 2 points for every point you want to advance (ie: you will need 40 actual skill points to go from 30 to 50).
To get from 50 to 70, you need 3 points for every point you want to advance (ie: you are going to need 60 points to go from 50 to 70).
Free sparring, provided you land enough clean punches, land a TKO or two and DON'T get hit, will get you plenty of points to progress, and you can improve your sparring partner which will get you more points per session.
Focus sparring makes you focus on one area - standing, clinching, ground and pound or submission. You get more points for focusing on the area you chose. You get bonus points awarded in a focus spar instead of regular points. Bonus points have one big advantage - 1 bonus point equals 1 point, regardless of level.
eg: let's say you want to move from 69 for striking offense to 70. You'd need 3 points to do so ordinarily. But if you do a focus session on standing you can spend just one point to go from 69 to 70.
So, taking all this in there are a few key things to consider:
* Boost your strength, speed and cardio to the key levels ASAP
* Boost your key skills to level 30 (at least for the start of the game) ASAP
* To unlock new training and sparring partners, you need cred. Cred is awarded on wins, and you get more cred for slapping more sponsors on your fear. So make sure you have lots of high level sponsors on your gear and when you win fights your cred will go through the roof, allowing you to unlock better training and sparring.
Now that's out of the way, the basics. Always try to fight the lowest ranked opponent so you can get practice and cred to really build up your stats.
At this point you can go to a training camp to learn a new move and keep practicing it to level it up to level 3 (the max). For example, my CAF has a straight left punch levelled at level 3 and if I can connect it, it's an instant KO. He also has a level 3 belly-to-belly slam and a level 3 spinning back right fist.
The problems will come in a few major areas:
* You will most likely cruise along for your first few fights, and then reach the championship conterdership
* Do NOT accept to fight the champ straight away - if you're a heavyweight, like me, at this stage of your career (likely year 4) Brock Lesnar/Frank Mir (depending on who is champ) will destroy you.
* The AI is ramped up ridiculously for title fights.
All I can say is:
* Practice slapping on and getting out of submissions HARD (they are totally different to the previous game, and I can't go into it because I have no clue how to do them/escape from them)
* Practice reversing takedowns and transitioning off the ground HARD
* Practice clinching HARD
Striking is easy and the standing game is well-implemented. But the game loses its gloss when you reach a championship fight and Brock Lesnar knocks you out in 30 seconds or Mir makes you tap in 10.
