M-1 Global confirmed Wednesday that Fedor Emelianenko will be a part of EA Sports’ upcoming MMA video game.

“I hope that it will be a great game and (be) very popular and will develop the popularity of MMA overall,” Emelianenko said.

Emelianenko and Randy Couture will be featured in the first edition due out next year. Both fighters agreed to deals with EA Sports months ago.

Recently, however, UFC President Dana White said that any fighter who signs with EA would not be welcome in the UFC. The UFC has its own video game, “UFC Undisputed,” which was developed with THQ.

White has said that Couture, who signed with EA while he was battling the UFC over contract issues, is an exception. It is uncertain if Emelianenko could be an exception as well, though M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelstein said Fedor’s agreement with EA “did not affect our negotiations with the UFC at all” and that M-1 Global is planning its own game.

The participation of Gegard Mousasi and Renato Sobral in the EA Sports game was also announced Wednesday. They will join Frank Shamrock, Tim Sylvia and others.

Joe Hall contributed to this report.