UFC Undisputed 3

As of this moment, you don't have any idea what the cover of the upcoming UFC Undisputed 3 looks like. As it turns out, neither does publisher THQ. That's where you come in. MMA fans have a chance to influence the cover selection, drawn from a pool of five candidates. Choose wisely.

“We are excited to let fans choose the cover athlete for UFC Undisputed 3,” UFC President Dana White said.  “Frankie, Georges, Anderson, Jon, and Cain are five of the most popular athletes in our sport and each wants to be on the cover. We love making our fans a part of the process and we’ll leave this one up to them.” If you're not typically on a first-name basis with practitioners of mixed martial arts, the five fighters' full names are Frankie Edgar, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and Cain Velasquez. If you're already prepared to cast your ballot, head over to the game's official site. In addition to the satisfaction of making your voice heard on this important issue, voting also gives you the chance to win free tickets to a future UFC live event. If you'd like to read more on each athlete, check out the bios below, provided by THQ. Also, THQ released an avalanche of screens for the game, which you can view in the gallery near the bottom of the page. Whew.

Georges St. Pierre – Current UFC Welterweight Champion

Nickname:    Rush
From:    Montreal, Quebec Canada
Age:    30
Height:    5' 11" ( 180 cm )
Weight:    170 lb ( 77 kg )

• One of the most popular Canadian athletes ever, according to various magazine and online fan polls
• Happens to be a paleontology buff, very passionate about dinosaurs
• Winner of 10 straight, has gone unbeaten for the past four years
• Arrives at all press conferences sharply dressed in an expensive suit and tie; also routinely dons a suit and tie when arriving at the arena on fight night. Widely respected for not only being an elite fighter but also a class act.
• He is, for some reason, a particular favorite of female fight fans. Some have theorized it that appeals stems from a combination of his French accent, chiseled frame, ballet-like athletic movements and good looks.
• His stellar resume includes wins over former UFC champions Matt Hughes (twice) and B.J. Penn (twice), and over Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck (twice) and halted Jake Shields’ 15-fight win streak.
• Regularly trains with the Canadian National Wrestling Team and is regarded as one of MMA’s best wrestlers (which is extraordinary given that he started wrestling in adulthood and not during his youth).
• Holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Karate and Greg Jackson’s “Gaidojutsu”
• Speaks English and French
• Subject of an MMA documentary titled “The Striking Truth”

Cain Velasquez – Current UFC Heavyweight Champion

From:    Yuma, AZ USA
Fights Out Of:    San Jose, California USA
Age:    29
Height:    6' 1" ( 185 cm )
Weight:    240 lb ( 109 kg )
College:    Arizona State University
Degree:    Education

• History-Maker: First Mexican-American fighter to win a heavyweight title in boxing or MMA
• Uplifting an entire people: Dethroning of UFC champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 (Oct. 2010) was watched by millions of people in Mexico on Televisa (Spanish cable). Before the bout commenced, and even in its opening moments, many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans had feared for their hero, wondering how he would defeat such a monstrous and intimidating heavyweight who outweighed Velasquez by a good 25 or 30 pounds. Cain’s win set off an explosion of Mexican pride in homes and bars across Mexico and the U.S.
• Dedicated his title victory to Mexicans and Mexican Americans
• Has said he hopes to be a role model for future Mexican-Americans, noting that he found few Mexica role models to look up to his youth
• Father, Efrain, and mother Isabel worked long hours in the hot fields picking lettuce for meager wages to support Cain and his two siblings. Cain credits his parents with instilling in him an extraordinary work ethic
• Has never lost a single round of any fight
• Born Salinas, Calif., also raised in Yuma, Ariz.
• Graduated with degree in Education from Arizona State University
• Two-time Division I All-American wrestler (5th in 2005, 4th in 2006), Two-time PAC-10 Champ
• Two-time high school state champ (Arizona)
• Junior college national champ (2002 at Iowa Central Community College, the same powerhouse program that Jon Jones attended and won a national title)
• Guerilla jiu-jitsu brown belt under Dave Camarillo
• Bilingual, speaks Spanish and English
• Chest tattoo reads “Brown Pride”
• After winning UFC title, appeared on George Lopez’s late-night talk show “Lopez Tonight”

Jon Jones – Current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

Nickname:    Bones
From:    Rochester, NY USA
Fights Out Of:    Endicott, NY USA
Age:    24
Height:    6' 4" ( 193 cm )
Weight:    205 lb ( 93 kg )
College:    Iowa Central
Degree:    Associates Degree

• From Rochester, NY  (trains in Albuquerque, NM, with Greg Jackson)
• UFC light heavyweight champion (youngest UFC champ in history at 23 years, 242 days old when he won the title at UFC 128)
• Champ moonlights as a crime fighter: Hours before the biggest fight of his life – against then-UFC champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua – Jones journeyed to a New Jersey park to meditate. He and two of his trainers, Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn, heard a woman scream and ran to her head. Against the wishes of his coaches, Jones ran down and double-leg tackled a mugger, then put the thief in a figure-four leg lock until police arrived. Jones even gave the bad guy a little advice: “It’s not right taking other people’s money from them. They work hard for it.”
• Brother, Arthur, plays defensive line for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL; another brother,  Chandler, is a defensive lineman at Syracuse University in New York (Note: Arthur Jones also played college football at Syracuse)
• Lists his heroes as: Muhammad Ali, Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko
• Genesis: Began training MMA in 2007 because “I had an unexpected child and I needed to make some money.”
• College: Earned associate’s degree from Iowa Central Community College (coincidentally, the same Jr. College that Cain Velasquez attended)
• Championship wrestling pedigree: Junior College national champ in 2006 (197 pounds), New York State champ in high school
• 6 feet 4 inches tall, with an 84.5-inch reach – longest in UFC history at any weight class
• Tragedy: Sister passed away from brain cancer at age 18
• “The Future is Now” – describes how many UFC fans and pundits feel about Jon Jones and his one-in-a-million potential
• 13-1 record; lone loss was via disqualification to Matt Hamill in 2009. Jones dominated the entire fight and punished Hamill and many fans feel that the referee should have perhaps penalized Jones a point for illegal elbows rather than disqualifying him.

Anderson Silva – Current UFC Middleweight Champion

Nickname:    The Spider
From:    Curitiba Brazil
Fights Out Of:    Curitiba Brazil
Age:    36
Height:    6' 2" ( 187 cm )
Weight:    185 lb ( 84 kg )

• Arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history
• Undefeated in past 5 and ½ years. Reigning UFC middleweight king has never lost inside of the Octagon (13-0).
• Longest reigning UFC champ
• Title defense against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 is regarded by some, including UFC Prez Dana White and Yahoo! Sports’ writer Kevin Iole, as the greatest MMA fight in history. Silva was trailing badly on all judges’ scorecards and sent fans into mass hysteria with a fight-ending triangle choke with only 1 minute 50 seconds left in the five-rounder
• Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
• Native of Curitiba, Brazil – known for producing other stars such as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Wanderlei Silva
• Speaks Portuguese and a tad bit of English, but prefers to conduct media interviews through a Portuguese translator
• Superb and speedy Muay Thai. Devastating and precise kicks, knees, elbows and punches have stopped 16 of his foes
• Worked at McDonald’s restaurant before fighting career

Frankie Edgar – Current UFC Lightweight Champion

Nickname:    The Answer
From:    Summit, New Jersey USA
Fights Out Of:    Toms River, NJ USA
Age:    29
Height:    5' 6" ( 167 cm )
Weight:    155 lb ( 70 kg )
College:    Clarion University
Degree:    Political Science

Training: I’ve been training at Ricardo’s – doing boxing, and strength and conditioning at All-Star Sports Academy, and training at Rutgers and with Phil Nurse.
When and why did you start training for fighting? After I graduated from college in May of 2005. I always liked the sport. I have seen other people with a wrestling background do well, and I felt that I could succeed.

Accomplishments in amateur competition? Two-time State Place Winner for New Jersey, 2nd in H.S. Nationals in 2000, four-time Division I National Qualifier for Clarion University and College Freestyle All-American in 2004.

Accomplishments in pro competition? Reality Fighting 155lb Champion

Ranks in any martial arts styles: Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Favorite grappling technique: Guillotine choke

Favorite striking technique: Right hand

Do you have any heroes?  My dad and my high school wrestling coach, Mr. Reid. These two are the toughest people that I know, both mentally and physically.

What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It is great, considering that I only started fighting a year and a half ago, and there wasn't even a 155 weight class in the UFC at the time.

Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn?  I have a BA in Political Science from Clarion University

What was your job before you started fighting?  Plumber

• Was nominated by ESPN For Upset of the Year at the 2010 ESPY’s
• Partially due to being undersized (he could fight at featherweight if he chose) and because he’s not yet a top-flight finisher, Edgar has been an underdog in many of his fights. Most notably, he was an underdog against Tyson Griffin, former UFC champ Sean Sherk, and both fights against the legendary B.J. Penn. Fittingly, as Edgar prepares to battle the much-larger Gray Maynard – considered a superior wrestler – the New Jerseyian is once again the underdog, but says he feels comfortable in the role.
• Raised in Toms River, N.J., Edgar was honored earlier this year by the township’s mayor and council members with a public proclamation recognizing his UFC title, MMA and wrestling accomplishments.
• Has a wife, Renee, and two young boys.