This game is beyond unrealistic
First off, a knockout when it is the first punch of the first round would never happen. Also getting put in a random surprise submission when you have just rocked your opponent will never happen either. The fact that these constantly happen make the game suffer.
The controls need some work in the terms of ground game. I don't understand what i'm expected to do when I constantly get mounted and im sitting there mashing the button or flicking the stick as fast as humanly possibly. This also leads into severe broken difficulty settings. They really need work. Chances are if you can't mash buttons fast enough on the easiest setting, there's a problem with the game's difficulty settings.
The online is terrible in itself. It lags quite a bit and the community is just plain horrible. If you ever get the upper hand on your opponent, expect them to retreat to the xbox dashboard to escape....always.
With these in mind, I have to say this game was an overall disappointing experience. If the series is ever expected to become as amazing as the other sports games, these game-breaking flaws must be addressed. Once the flaws are addressed and fixed, the online community will improve with it.