Firstly you have a knockout as well. There are times when you might strike an opponent from the mount and end up knocking him out before the ref decides to step in. Beyond that though, there will be times when you’ll land six to eight strikes to the head and if your opponent doesn't respond, the ref will stop the fight and award you a TKO victory. Lastly there are submissions. Whether you’re on the top or bottom, you can attempt any number of submissions that could ultimately lead to victory. For those that do choose to focus on playing as a more ground-game oriented fighter, you’ll have three styles that are just as varied as the striking styles.

Wrestling

Try as they might, a striker can only evade a take-down for so long. Eventually a good grappler is going to get their hands on a striker and then there’s no where left to go but down. Utilizing wrestling will allow you to take down your opponent from a variety of positions. Firstly from a standing position, the most common thing you’ll see is a wrestler shoot in for the legs and then drive through, taking their opponent to the mat. As with real life though, Undisputed doesn't make a shoot 100% successful every time. If you grab a hold of your opponent, you’ll have to fight to achieve the take-down otherwise your opponent will sprawl and stuff your attempts. If you are successful though, your opponent will end up on his back and you’ll be in his guard.

Another effective technique is to attempt a take down from the clinch. This is obviously a little more risky seeing as how you need to get through your opponent’s attacks, but if you can lock up you’ll be able to attempt several different slams and take-downs. The trade off to the danger is that these take-downs will land you in a better position such as half-guard or side control, and the slams have the potential to rock your opponent. But once you get your opponent down, what do you do?

Wrestling is all about dominance which means you want to use your power to control your opponent and impose your will. Look to use strikes to damage your opponent and pass into better positions and a relentless barrage of punches and elbows will eventually lead to a TKO or even KO victory.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

No matter where you are, no matter what position you’re in, BJJ practitioners are flat out dangerous. Watching to skilled BJJ artists fight is like watching a human chess match. There are so many intricacies that you never really see until someone explains it too you. BJJ is very technical and a big part of that results in creating openings from which you can move into better positions whether they’re offensive or defensive. However, even with all the technique and transitions, BJJ is very submission centric. You could be in a situation that looks like your opponent has all the advantage in the world and then all of a sudden you pop an arm bar out of nowhere. Someone can be on top trying to rain down punches and then a split second later you've got them in a triangle choke. That’s what makes BJJ so scary.

Judo

Of all the fighting styles in UFC 2009, Judo is probably the one that jumps out at people the most. Very few UFC fighters incorporate Judo techniques into their arsenal, but the one’s that do have it use the techniques with startling efficiency. Judo plays almost like an amalgam of Wrestling and Brailian Jiu-Jitsu. Where Wrestling has a variety of throws and slams, Judo works different throws and trips to take-down an opponent. Often these maneuvers will result in positioning like side control. It’s when the fight goes to the ground though, that Judo begins to show similarities to BJJ. Judo looks to various transitions in order to improve positioning on the ground regardless of whether you’re on top or on the bottom. As with BJJ, there are a variety of submissions that can end a fight instantly. If there is one major difference in this aspect though, Judo seems to require a little more planning in the submission attempts. Throwing up an arm bar or a kimura can work, but I think Judo practitioners need to be a little more mindful of what they’re trying to attempt. If you’re using Judo and you’re going for a submission, don’t rush it. Work over your opponent with punches and elbows and knees as you make your way to the finish.

It doesn't matter if you're playing with one of the many members of the UFC roster or fighting with your own created warrior, half the fun of UFC 2009: Undisputed is testing the waters to see which combination of striking and grappling work best for your style of play. Each style has several unique techniques and maneuvers and are effective in so many different positions that you really can’t go wrong with whatever choice you make.