After a surprising success for THQ last year, a lot is riding on the future for the company with the UFC Undisputed franchise. The sophomore release, or UFC Undisputed 2010, will be a major release in the history of the franchise; as many will look for this release to address some of the issues from the 2009 release, while at the same time offering additional things for players to get excited about. Of course, THQ wants to start feeding the hype machine, and we are starting to hear more about what we can expect from the 2010 edition of the game.

Naturally, the first major announcement about the 2010 edition of the game is the news that none other than Brock Lesnar will be starring on the cover. The release date of the game is now confirmed for May 25th for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of the game. We can tell you that it would appear that THQ does have plans for a PSP edition of the game that will be released later in the year. Our sources tell us that developers will have a better idea of the release date sometime after the 360 and PS3 versions are released; but do expect it to arrive before the end of the year and maybe closer to the release of the EA Sports MMA title, which does not yet have an official release date but is also expected later this year.

The 2010 release of the title will look to improve on just about everything. However, special attention has been paid to improving the fight mechanics. To do this, the developers have added more than four times as many striking moves and twice as many submissions over the 2009 release. Those players that play the game against experienced players using a button-mashing technique are in for a surprise, as that unintended submission that they pulled off should be able to be broken with a well-timed counter.

Customization will be a big theme for the 2010 edition of the game, with the ability to modify characters with a system that received a completed and perhaps much needed overhaul. The biggest advantage of the new systems is that your fighter will not be stuck in one fighting discipline type; instead, players will be able to choose and combine moves from multiple fighting styles in order to help balance out your fighter. Several new fighting styles have also been added.

With the more detailed character and environment detail, the game looks much better in many different ways than last year’s edition. THQ’s experienced developer Yukes looks to have done an excellent job in delivering more of what UFC players want, and we have to predict that the game should be very successful when it arrives in May.