Glenn Wigmore: EA is saying all of the right -- and expected -- things when it comes to EA Sports UFC 2. More fighters and more signature animations are welcome, but the inclusion of a proper 360-degree slip/dodge system sounds like it will tweak that part of the game engine towards some of the sway business found in Undisputed 3. In addition, the ability to chain submissions and have more intricate grappling scenarios (with both players inputting commands simultaneously) could allow for some even greater cat-and-mouse moments if you get caught with low stamina.

I'm excited for the new knockout physics, as long as they are reigned in to a reasonable level. You want to see a variety of knockdowns and splayed fighters, but it can't go to cartoon land. Save that for the KO mode. Improved fighter detail, including new hair physics, sounds like a benefit to the overall look, too.

For the new modes, it sounds like the developers have checked all of the necessary boxes, but there's nothing that really pops out as truly original. A revamped career mode will be good, and KO mode will please those who want to stand and bang. Ultimate Team is sort of a given at this point, as is an event creator. I'm curious to see how the Live Event mode plays out, as I think the ability to predict events and then play the matches could be a lot of fun, especially if EA is diligent with their updates to this area of the game.

The first EA Sports UFC product got a lot right at the outset, and it also tweaked and refined the gameplay and roster through some wicked updates. I hope this next product, having 18-plus months of development and lots of perspective, keeps showing us some new moves.

Chase Becotte: As usual, I sort of come at this from more of a layman's perspective than most other sports games I play, at least in terms of how well I know the UFC. I'm not super into combat sports in terms of following or watching them, but I do play these games online quite a bit.

With that in mind, I'm getting positive vibes so far. The game still looks beautiful, and while you maybe got an Undisputed 3 vibe from the 360-degree slip/dodge system, I got more of a Fight Night feel. Either way, I think it's a positive and just makes a lot of sense when you consider how much time is spent in many fights trying to dodge people who are throwing bombs. I can't say I ever got very good at the grappling and submission system, but just seeing the way the fighters are interacting and sliding around on the ground -- including interactions with the cage -- really makes me want to invest more time in it just because it looks really cool.

I don't expect I'll spend much time with the Career mode as I rarely do in fighting games (I just enjoy 1-on-1 competition too much in fighting games), but I'm interested in hearing more about the UFC Ultimate Team mode. I'm not super into creating fighters -- I'd rather just buy packs and get new fighters for my camp -- but the fact that the developers are trying to make this Ultimate Team mode unique means I'll at least dig into it. I always end up spending a healthy amount of time in these card collecting modes, so as long as UFC UT follows through on being different it will get a look from me.

Anyway, now that we know a closed beta launches on January 28, it's sort of crazy to think how close many folks are from testing out an early version of UFC 2. I can't wait to see the reaction.