Overly complicated controls, long loading times, and subpar career mode mar an otherwise good game.
If you've played Fight Night Round 3, you'll find similar graphics here which is a good thing. The graphics are stellar, particularly the fighters' character models. While the background and audience graphics aren't the best, it's not particularly noticeable.
The menus, on the other hand, aren't particularly nice to look at, and during career mode, depicts a virtual gym in the background. The game often forces you to wait while it loads during basic menu navigation, a blemish that doesn't happen often with today's games.
The gameplay has lots of potential but the controls are too complicated and at times seemingly unresponsive. After playing a good 5 hours, I still was unable to get more than a very basic grasp over the controls which is frustrating. Particularly, the floor grapples were hard to pull off, and I found it hard to defend myself against submission and opponent grapples.
The online multiplayer mode only seemed to work when playing with my own created character. The sound is fairly good with some quality voice announcing. The career mode has you doing more management than fighting.
I recommend this game to people who particularly enjoy fighting games and love UFC. If you're not a big fan in either category, then you may not have the patience to actually become a good player.