I once went to a night of "cage fighting" at Johannesburg's Wembley Arena. I'm not sure it was totally legal at the time and it was billed as something dangerous and thrilling.

GAME: UFC UNDISPUTED 2010

PUBLISHER: THQ

It was anything but. The bouts started with much hype, but seconds after the opening bell the contestants were invariably writhing slowly around in a corner in a poor parody of Greco-Roman wrestling.

At least two of the "fights" ended in less than a minute with one contestant pushing one of his opponent's fingers back so hard that the match was stopped.

I realise having a pinkie dislocated is exquisitely painful, but come on, man - I saw more vicious fights in the girls' toilets in primary school.

Cage fighting is now all grown up, calling itself mixed martial arts (MMA) and going the same way as boxing with the beginnings of an alphabet soup of sanctioning bodies. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is one of those bodies (kicking, punching and wrestling allowed, eye-gouging and hair-pulling frowned upon).

UFC Undisputed 2010, like Fifa's annual soccer offering, is one of an annual series, starring the biggest names in the sport.

Though the game has a comprehensive and comprehensible tutorial system, brilliant mechanics and realistic graphics, I found it difficult to engage. The main reason is that I'm not a big MMA fan.

It's tempting to say Undisputed is a great game, even though I didn't enjoy it. But that might be a bit of overcompensation.

As Gloria Steinem wrote in a brilliantly prescient piece on the 1968 US presidential campaign trail: "Many of [the journalists covering the election] dislike or disdain Nixon, and so give his viewpoints their maximum weight. This desire to balance may be inevitable, but it's misleading. As we who learned who [Bobby] Kennedy was only after he died, we may find out who Nixon is only after he is president."

Before anyone calls the lawyers: No, I don't think there's a Watergate in the UFC's future.

THE GOOD

Fast action, no glitches I came across, quick loading and very lifelike fighters. There are several modes to play, with the emphasis not, for once, being online action. You can use a real fighter or create your own.

THE BAD

Your opponent doesn't submit when his finger is pushed back.

RATING: 7.4

(If it can be proved that it ended the Vietnam war and started dialogue with China: 8.4)