Industry insider Tom Henderson has reported that UFC 5 will be released in 2023 and says the game’s development caused the long-rumored reboot of the Fight Night franchise to be put on pause. 

The UFC franchise has been a big one for EA Sports. Back at release, UFC 4 ranked as the second-highest selling game of the month in August, losing only to another EA juggernaut in Madden 21.

While you might expect that kind of success to immediately warrant development for a sequel, the MMA franchise has never been one to go gung-ho with releases.

It has been over a year and a half since the release of its predecessor, and this is the first real news fans have heard about UFC 5.

UFC 5 could be arriving in 2023 at the expense of a Fight Night reboot

In a series of tweets, Henderson announced that the game could arrive as early as summer 2023, making it nearly three years from the release of UFC 4.

“UFC 5 is summer 23 I believe. A Fight Night reboot had to be *paused* for it.”

UFC 5 is summer 23 I believe.

A Fight Night reboot had to be *paused* for it 😭 https://t.co/qJNmCBY00N

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) May 10, 2022

He initially claimed that the newest Fight Night installment had to be shut down for this to happen, but he later clarified that it has only been paused and that there’s still hope that development could continue.

If his sources are correct, this would be the first entry to the boxing franchise since 2011’s Fight Night Champion which drew high praise for its tight controls and an inventive new story mode.

While it might not be the kind of news that fans of either franchise were after, at least there’s still hope that two iconic combat sports games could be coming down the pipeline.

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