EA Sports UFC 2 Ultimate Team Guide: Fighter Tips, Gameplay Hints, Pack Rundown

EA Sports UFC 2’s Ultimate Team mode is a far more subtle sibling to the same offering in EA Sports’ other titles. There's plenty of nuanced tips and hints, which will make a huge difference to your fighter's prospects in the online Octagon.

In this guide, we detail everything you need to know about character creation and advancement. A complete breakdown of packs and items—including a look at what to expect from the five-star grading system—will also underline how each decision you make has an impact on your prospects. 

While UFC 2 is more accessible than its predecessors (including THQ's last-generation iterations), casual MMA fans may still struggle to understand how the game's Ultimate Team mode differs from the money-spinning variations seen elsewhere. Let's get straight into it.

The Basics

It's fair to say UFC 2 ushers in a number of changes which may initially alienate those who are used to playing Ultimate Team on FIFA or Madden. Unlike those games, you won’t collect and utilise real-world athletes.

Instead, you are tasked with creating a team of five fighters—who can compete in the lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight or women’s bantamweight divisions—with the overall goal of becoming an online champion, much like FUT16's Divisions setup.

Similar to UFC 2’s older siblings, virtual coins (and real cash if you’re so inclined) are your currency for opening packs. Each pack contains a variation of stats boosts, techniques and potentially a signature move from a UFC fighter, the last of which is as close to mimicking the company's real-world athletes as you'll get. Applying such items to your combatant shapes their strengths, weaknesses and overall arsenal.

Pack and Item Types

General Information

Since release, packs have ranged from 1,500 coins (fitness and stamina replenishments) to 12,500 coins (Jumbo Premium pack). Special promotions will run most weeks, highlighted by the St. Patrick's Day pack which offered signature moves from Irish stars.

Here’s a rundown of the staple selections that are available on a daily basis:

Generally, one or two promotional packs will run alongside the normal array each week. Options based on individual fight cards will coincide with the UFC's calendar. For instance, we can expect a decent push when Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier square off during April's UFC 197 rematch, while there's bound to be some huge offerings when UFC 200 arrives in July.

You will often find a myriad of moves, attributes, perks, fitness boosts and other one-match stat increases in packs (typically, these will allow your chin, body or leg to take more damage for a limited time). Some packs may only offer one type of item, so be sure to check the description before purchasing.

Every item is graded on a one-to-five-star system. You can apply roughly 100 stars to your created fighter when starting out, with the total increasing as you make progress.

It’s important to understand how star-levels function. While many single star move items appear useless due to their lack of statistical improvements, don’t overlook them. They are a useful and cheap way of adding new techniques to all areas of your fighter’s game.

Here’s a general look at what you can expect from each level of move item:

Attributes provide the opportunity for a more dramatic stat increase in one or two areas, but they will apply a sizeable decrease in another. Here's how that system stacks up:

You also have five perk slots to fill up. These provide helpful improvements that could make a difference at vital moments of each fight, such as being able to defend against submission attempts quicker or increasing the likelihood of a knockout from a head kick.

Similar to FIFA 16’s Man of the Match cards, you can also land Move of the Night upgrades from relevant packs. These are extremely limited and will only be available for around 24 hours, providing a rare set of enhancements.

For example, those who purchased UFC Fight Night 85 packs after the event had a shot at landing Mark Hunt’s knockout punch, Neil Magny’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu reversals and Ross Pearson’s inside leg-kick, all of which were vital to their respective victories on March 20.

Many career-defining signature moves are available in normal packs—such as Bas Rutten's legendary flying knee—but Move of the Night offerings are removed from packs once the promotion is up.

Creating and Upgrading Your Fighter

Your fighter’s DNA is moulded from the moment you decide their height, weight, body type and other attributes as they cannot be changed once you press save for the first time.

Every attribute upgraded thereafter should be viewed as a tiny twist of the screw. Your fighter's game is going to become tighter as time passes, so it's worthwhile approaching with the mindset that progress will be slow, particularly if you're not willing to spend real cash.

You must pay special attention to your warrior's physical appearance in the creation menu. If you’re looking for Magny-styled reach (a stat which isn’t visible during the selection process), a shorter, stockier frame isn’t going to cut it.

It’s important to note online multiplayer isn’t full of hulking juggernauts. It’s perhaps natural to try to make the tallest, most-jacked fighter whose wingspan mimics that of Michael Jordan, but this will come with glaring pitfalls. If you create a goliath, expect their stamina, speed and movement to be problematic. For every advantage, a disadvantage can be exploited by clever players.

As such, it’s key to have a clear picture of how you want your fighter to develop before you begin. There’s little point in adding takedown and submission upgrades to a boxer if you don’t plan to develop their skills on the ground. Multiple routes of attack are essential—this is MMA after all—but maxing out a couple of stats can prove devastating if you're constantly able to apply your specific game plan.

Like the real-fight game, each fighter’s strongest attributes are best utilised for early success, and they will provide the pathway for a more well-rounded game later on.

General Tips and Hints

Items are retained until you sell them: If you decide to delete a fighter, all of the move, attribute and perk items you've applied will be re-added to your stockpile if you've got room. You'll be lucky to create five fighters you wish to keep first time, so this provides the opportunity to chop and change without the level of a new character plummeting.

Longer fights = more coins: While it's natural to try to finish encounters as quickly as possible, you'll receive a better payout of coins if you secure victory in the final round, or via a decision. This is perhaps unbalanced on EA's part—as UFC fighters are often rewarded for quick knockouts and submissions with bonus money—so will hopefully be tweaked soon.

Work out your opponent's pattern: Most players will utilise a handful of key moves (often superman punches, flying knees and a Thai clinch), so it's rewarding to quickly pick up on their pattern of play. Does your opposite keep lunging forward with a poorly-placed head kick? Step to the side and exploit the miss when they try to land the same move again.

Play to your strengths, but have a back-up plan: Similarly, you'll likely settle on a group of core strikes and offence styles that can be counted on for victory. We all enjoy finishing a fight in spectacular fashion, but you need to have multiple routes of progression available for when your opposition nullifies Plan A.

Boxers who possess no ground game become almost useless if their target continues to block a stand-up assault, so it's useful to consciously add upgrade points which improve on a default fighter's base stats. If you're to remain competitive when playing online multiplayer, your created character needs to be efficient in at least two of the three main positions (striking, clinching and ground).

How to Defend the Thai Clinch: Many online fights end with this move because people don't understand how to block the barrage of knees. Although the enemy's attacks are going toward your head, you need to utilise the low block to stop them. This is due to your body position being lower in this particular position.

Don't add moves for the sake of it: Be sure to consider whether you're actually going to use each move added to your fighter. Before applying, you'll be shown exactly what the new technique is replacing if it's applied. Don't want to switch an overhand right for a short elbow? Then don't.

Take part in Live Events: You can earn extra rewards by correctly predicting the winner, plus method and round of victory, before the UFC's live events. Correctly guessing each criteria add points to your total and will give you a shot at winning some extremely helpful prizes.

Hunt's ridiculous knockout punch over Frank Mir was the main award after UFC Fight Night 85, with a pack themed on the night and premium pack offered as lower alternatives.

Expect to lose: MMA is an unpredictable sport, where incredible comebacks and giant slayings happen on a regular basis. You will lose plenty of fights. Try to work out why you suffered defeat after each and use this experience to develop your game. Analysing your mistakes makes a huge difference when facing a plethora of online players.

Need anything other UFC 2 tips? Be sure to hit @Nakerman up on Twitter. UFC 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One right now.