Today, EA's mixed martial arts game pinned down another high-profile fighter unfazed by lifetime ban threats made by UFC organizers. Electronic Arts has announced that former five-time UFC middleweight champion Frank Shamrock has joined the roster of EA Sports MMA, due out next year for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

　　Shamrock, letting his fists do the talking.

　　Not to be confused with his adoptive brother, UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock, the 5-foot-10-inch, 185-pound Frank Shamrock has a record of 23-10-2 and specializes in catch wrestling and kickboxing. He is currently a fighter for UFC rival Strikeforce, where he began fighting in 2006.

　　In 2007, Shamrock became Strikeforce middleweight champion after a submission win over Phil Baroni. However, he lost his crown the following year to Cung Le, who broke Shamrock's arm with a series of kicks. This past April, he lost to jujitsu expert Nick Diaz in another Strikeforce title fight.

　　Shamrock will share the EA MMA roster with Fedor Emelianenko, who just joined Strikeforce in August. Randy Couture, a current UFC fighter who lost a tough bout with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira last month at UFC 102, will also appear in the game.

　　When it arrives, EA Sports MMA hopes to cash in on the popularity of mixed martial arts, which helped THQ's UFC 2009 Undisputed sell more than 3 million units domestically. In development at Madden NFL developer EA Tiburon in Florida, the game employs a number of developers who previously worked on EA's now-defunct NASCAR series.