Takedowns: 8 out of 10
Submissions: 8 out of 10
Endurance: 8 out of 10
Total points used: 40

Rationale for these skill ratings:
Yes, he got knocked out by Tim Sylvia, but Ricco Rodriguez is still a
great fighter and one of the top heavyweights in the world.  Ricco's
ground-and-pound skills mirror those of his training partner Tito Ortiz,
in terms of both effectiveness and style, thus the 9 out of 10 rating in
Mount Pounding.  His takedown skills are great, and would be higher than
8 out of 10 if he didn't have problems from time to time taking down
fighters who have extremely good takedown defense (with Tim Sylvia being
the biggest example).  Ricco's endurance is something that I might have
rated 7 out of 10 a year ago, but his fight with Randy Couture proved
that he deserves at least an 8 out of 10 in that category.  Ricco has
focused on a ground-and-pound approach since his UFC debut in 2001, and
has not won any fights with submission holds in that time period, but
don't underestimate the fact that he still has ample submission skills
that he still has waiting in his bag of tricks.  After all, this is a guy
who defeated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by submission in an Abu-Dhabi 
submission wrestling match.  Your submission skills have to be pretty damn 
good to be able to do that.  Ricco's one glaring weakness is his less-than-
spectacular punching and kicking skills, along with his questionable chin.
He has had two career losses (one to Bobby Hoffman, one to Tim Sylvia),
and they both came when he was knocked out by punches.  Nonetheless,
Ricco Rodriguez is still a top-tier heavyweight fighter any way you look
at it.

Recommended Easy Move Set: Free-Fighter

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 6-foot-3, 245 pounds
Recommended in-game height and weight: 6-foot-1, 235 pounds

Head #2, Color 2
Facial Hair #18, Color 1
Hair #6, Color 1
Pants: Kickboxing #3, Color 5
Kneepads: None
Footwear: None
Entrance attire: Same as above
Everything else: None


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RICKSON GRACIE

(thanks to VClartho, Cagevsalex, Erectus4u, Luminate83, and Quzzaq)

Name: Rickson Gracie
Short Name: Rickson
Nickname: None
Discipline: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Birthplace: Brazil

Recommended Skill Ratings
Stand Punch: 3 out of 10
Stand Kick: 4 out of 10
Mount Pounding: 7 out of 10
Takedowns: 7 out of 10
Submissions: 9 out of 10
Endurance: 10 out of 10
Total points used: 40

Rationale for these skill ratings:
Rickson Gracie's submission and endurance skills speak for themselves, and the
only reason I didn't give him 10 out of 10 in Submissions is because he never 
really did it against top-level mixed martial artists.  Nonetheless, he was 
a submission master and deserves the 9 rating in my opinion.  What to give 
Rickson in the category of takedowns was a hard choice to make.  Ultimately, 
I think there's enough evidence that the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu method of takedowns 
no longer works (like in Royce's fight with Sakuraba) to ensure that the 
rating for takedowns can't be 8 or higher, but at the same time I don't think 
it should be any lower than 7.  Mount Pounding is something that Rickson was
good at, and frequently used as a way to set up submissions.  His stand-up
kickboxing skills were the weakest aspect of his game, but they would still
be higher than 3 and 4 out of 10 if the game didn't limit you to 40 skill
points per created fighter.  

Recommended Easy Move Set: Grappler

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 5-foot-10, 185 pounds
Recommended in-game height and weight: 5-foot-8, 175 pounds

Head #3, Color 3
Facial Hair #3, Color 1
Hair Style #1: Style #1, Color 1 (bald)
Hair Style #2: His partially shaven look is Style #2, Color 1
Hair Style #3: His ponytail when he was in Royce's corner is #17, Color 1
Pants: Vale Tudo #1, Color 1
Kneepads: Supporter, Color 1
Footwear: Ankle, Color 1
Entrance attire: Same as above, except body-wear and pants should have his Gi
Everything else: None


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ROBBIE LAWLER

(thanks to EdibleGumption)

Name: Robbie Lawler
Short Name: Lawler
Nickname: Ruthless
Discipline: Miletich Fighting Systems
Birthplace: USA

Recommended Skill Ratings
Stand Punch: 10 out of 10
Stand Kick: 8 out of 10
Mount Pounding: 6 out of 10
Takedowns: 2 out of 10
Submissions: 3 out of 10
Endurance: 8 out of 10
Total points used: 37

Rationale for these skill ratings:
It's hard to predict whether Robbie Lawler's stock will go up or down in
the future, once he gets in there with a good submission fighter and/or
some of the top welterweights in the world.  But as it stands right now,
Lawler is one of the fastest-rising stars in the sport.  His stand-up
kickboxing skills are excellent, and the 8 out of 10 in kicking comes
partially from actual kicking and partially from his ability to use his
knees as offensive weapons in the stand-up.  Lawler also took (and passed)
a big test of endurance in his classic UFC fight with Aaron Riley, thus the
8 out of 10 rating in that category.  Now comes the big question mark for
Robbie Lawler: What kind of skills does he have on the ground?  I doubt
that he would be horrible on the ground given the fact that he trains with
the Miletich crew of fighters, but I don't want to give him good or even
average ratings until he shows us, the fans, something in the cage.  He
has shown no discernible takedown, submission, or ground-and-pound skills
in his fights thus far, although that certainly doesn't mean that he won't
in the future.  I still chose to give him a 6 out of 10 in Mount Pounding
simply due to the fact that he punches so hard.  I feel that these skill
ratings accurately represent Robbie Lawler's skills.  He's a very good
fighter with all the potential in the world, but to give him more than 37
out of 40 total skill points would be premature at this point.

Recommended Easy Move Set: Striker

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 5-foot-11, 170 pounds
Recommended in-game height and weight: 5-foot-9, 168 pounds
(note: This is the lightest you can make a created fighter whose height is
5-foot-9)

Head #55, Color 2
Facial Hair #20, Color 1
Hair #6, Color 1
Pants: Vale Tudo #3, Color 3
Kneepads: None
Footwear: None
Entrance attire: Same as above
Everything else: None


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RYAN GRACIE

(thanks to Bradu)

Name: Ryan Gracie
Short Name: Ryan Gracie
Nickname: None
Discipline: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Birthplace: Brazil

Recommended Skill Ratings
Stand Punch: 7 out of 10
Stand Kick: 5 out of 10
Mount Pounding: 3 out of 10
Takedowns: 6 out of 10
Submissions: 8 out of 10
Endurance: 7 out of 10
Total points used: 36

Rationale for these skill ratings:
I have not personally seen enough of Ryan Gracie's fights to be able to 
accurately create his recommended skill ratings.  Therefore, I have used 
the recommended skill ratings provided by Bradu and just edited them 
slightly.

Recommended Easy Move Set: Grappler

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 5-foot-9, 176 pounds
Recommended in-game height and weight: 5-foot-7, 166 pounds
Head #37, Color 2
Facial Hair #30, Color 1
Hair #6, Color 1
Pants: Vale Tudo #1, Color 3
Kneepads: Supporter, Color 3
Footwear: Ankle, Color 3
Entrance attire: Same as above, except body-wear and pants should have his Gi
Everything else: None


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TANK ABBOTT

(thanks to Cagevsalex, Windkick, and Rjr)

(note: This fighter's name is actually David Abbott, but I chose to enter
it as Tank Abbott below because everyone calls him Tank Abbott)

Name: Tank Abbott
Short Name: Abbott
Nickname: None
Discipline: Street Fighting
Birthplace: USA

Recommended Skill Ratings
Stand Punch: 8 out of 10
Stand Kick: 3 out of 10
Mount Pounding: 8 out of 10
Takedowns: 6 out of 10
Submissions: 4 out of 10
Endurance: 4 out of 10
Total points used: 33

Rationale for these skill ratings:
I wanted to make Tank much better than this for the sake of excitement, but I
also wanted to be realistic.  I feel that he deserved the low ratings that he
got in some categories because A) I don't recall ever seeing him throw a kick,
B) I don't recall him ever showing any submission skills of any kind, and C) 
If anyone on earth deserves a 4 out of 10 in endurance, it would be Tank 
Abbott.  Fortunately, he nearly makes up for this with very good punching 
skills and Mount Pounding, although I don't think he's quite at the level of 
a 9 or 10 in either category.  The category of Takedowns is a mixed bag 
because he has the power to take you down once he gets a hold of you, but at 
the same time, he is slow enough that most fighters can easily avoid any of 
his takedown attempts.  Once again, I encourage you to modify these ratings 
to your liking based on your personal opinions, and I expect there to be lots 
of people who think Tank is better (or worse) than what I've rated him here.

Recommended Easy Move Set: Striker

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 6-foot-0, 250 pounds
Recommended in-game height and weight: 5-foot-10, 255 pounds
(in Tank's case, making him 240 pounds would make him appear to be way too
muscular in the game and nowhere near fat enough, so I recommend setting his
weight to 255 for maximum realism)

Head #33, Color 1
Facial Hair #38, Color 1
Hair #4, Color 1
Pants: Kickboxing #3, Color 5
Kneepads: Supporter, Color 3
Footwear: Shoes, Color 3
Entrance attire: Same as above
Everything else: None


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TITO ORTIZ

(thanks to VClartho, Slayer813, and EdibleGumption)

Name: Tito Ortiz
Short Name: Ortiz 
Nickname: None (the game doesn't have enough space for his nickname to fit)
Discipline: Freestyle
Birthplace: USA

Recommended Skill Ratings
Stand Punch: 8 out of 10
Stand Kick: 2 out of 10
Mount Pounding: 10 out of 10
Takedowns: 9 out of 10
Submissions: 3 out of 10
Endurance: 8 out of 10
Total points used: 40

Rationale for these skill ratings: 
Even though submissions and stand-up kicking are probably the weakest weapons 
in Tito's arsenal, they still deserve to be much higher than they are.  
However, the game only gives you 40 points to work with, so cuts had to be made 
somewhere.  I felt that the most important thing was to convey the fact that 
Tito is one of the best in the world at ground-and-pound, and also that he 
is a very versatile fighter with good punching skills and endurance as well.  
Having low statistics in any particular areas (like Tito does with kicking and 
submissions) will not hurt any created fighter nearly as much as their high 
stats in the other categories will help them.

Recommended Easy Move Set: Free-Fighter (in order to reflect his versatility)

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 6-foot-2, 204 pounds
Recommended in-game weight: 6-foot-0, 204 pounds 
(in Tito's case, making him any lighter than 204 pounds makes him look too 
skinny in the game)

Head #17, Color 2
Facial Hair #18, Color 2
Hair #3, Color 4
Pants: Kickboxing #1, Color 5
Kneepads: Pad, Color 3
Footwear: Shoes, Color 3
Entrance attire: Same as above
Everything else: None


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VERNON "TIGER" WHITE

(thanks to EdibleGumption)

Name: Vernon White
Short Name: Tiger
Nickname: Tiger
Discipline: Submission
Birthplace: USA

Recommended Skill Ratings
Stand Punch: 6 out of 10
Stand Kick: 7 out of 10
Mount Pounding: 3 out of 10
Takedowns: 4 out of 10
Submissions: 8 out of 10
Endurance: 8 out of 10
Total points used: 36

Rationale for these skill ratings:
I have not personally seen enough of Vernon "Tiger" White's fights to be able 
to accurately create his recommended skill ratings.  Therefore, I have used 
the recommended skill ratings provided by EdibleGumption and just edited them 
slightly.

Recommended Easy Move Set: Grappler

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 6-foot-0, 204 pounds
Recommended in-game height and weight: 5-foot-10, 194 pounds

Head #55, Color 4
Facial Hair #26, Color 1
Hair #5, Color 1
Pants: Vale Tudo #3, Color 3
Kneepads: None
Footwear: Ankle, Color 1
Entrance attire: Same as above
Everything else: None


<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
VITOR BELFORT

(thanks to Hollywood Blonde, Windkick, Cagevsalex, Cooz, and VClartho)

Name: Vitor Belfort
Short Name: Belfort
Nickname: The Phenom
Discipline: Freestyle
Birthplace: Brazil

Recommended Skill Ratings
Stand Punch: 10 out of 10
Stand Kick: 3 out of 10
Mount Pounding: 7 out of 10
Takedowns: 7 out of 10
Submissions: 4 out of 10
Endurance: 6 out of 10
Total points used: 37

Rationale for these skill ratings:
This was a very difficult one to score, because Vitor has been very 
inconsistent over the years.  So, I just tried to think of his skills over his 
whole career at large.  Punching is easily a 10, but he has never really 
displayed much in the way of kicking skill.  He has also never been 
particularly accomplished in the art of takedowns, but he still deserves a 7 
rating in that category simply for being able to score a takedown on Chuck 
Liddell.  Submissions have never been one of Vitor's strengths, although his
ground-and-pound skills are good enough to be worthy of a 7 rating in that
category.  Endurance has been a problem for Vitor Belfort when he has needed 
it the most, as he completely ran out of gas in his fights against Couture, 
Sakuraba, etc.  His endurance isn't downright bad, but I don't think it 
deserves anything higher than 6 out of 10.  I believe that these skill 
ratings do an accurate job of conveying Vitor's real-life skills, as he 
is decent in all categories, and one of the best in the world at stand-up 
punching.

Recommended Easy Move Set: Striker

Physical Appearance
Real life height and weight: 6-foot-0, 204 pounds
Recommended in-game height and weight: 5-foot-10, 194 pounds

Head #12, Color 3
Facial Hair #30, Color 1
Hair #3, Color 1
Pants: Vale Tudo #3, Color 3
Kneepads: Pad, Color 3
Footwear: Shoes, Color 3
Entrance attire: Same as above
Everything else: None


<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
SECTION D
A few special notes

Note: If you would like to verify any of the fighters' real life heights and 
weights that are listed above, you can do so at any of the following online
MMA databases:
-Full Contact Fighter Database  (http://www.fcfighter.com/database.htm)
-Sherdog Fight Finder  (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.cfm)
-Pride Official Web Site  (http://www.pridefc.com)
-UFC Official Web Site  (http://www.ufc.tv)


Note: While the game does limit you to 12 created fighters on any given memory
card, you can still have an unlimited number of created fighters if you have 
an unlimited number of memory cards.  For example, if you have three memory 
cards, that gives you a maximum of 36 fighters that you can create.  Also, 
please note that the size or brand of your memory card will not affect this 
in any way, because it is the game itself that restricts players to only 
having 12 created fighters per memory card.
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