Career mode offers a new way to play that resembles a simulation game. In this mode, your goal is to become the best fighter possible, starting from the World Fighting Alliance and working your way up to be recruited and fighting in the ranks of the UFC.

During this mode, you will have to manage not only your fighter in the ring as you punch and kick your way to the top, but everything that goes into the spectacle itself such as promoting your fights, building hype, and making fans. You are free to join and represent different gyms, with each one focusing on a particular fighting style.

Every week you get points to spend on upgrading your character, learning new moves, promoting fights, and conducting research about your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. It's not possible to do everything at once, so it's up to you how you choose to spend your points. This mode will really appeal to players who want some more depth to their beat-em-up and gives a nice glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes in the UFC.

Whenever you take an action during a fight, your stamina meter will slowly deplete. Jumping into the ring and wildly throwing punches and kicks will get you nowhere and exhaust your fighter. The game requires you to play smart to win. You will have to manage your stamina so that you can punch, kick, and execute combos when the time is right, conserving your energy for the best takedown moments. This stamina system adds a nice layer of strategic play, as well as a manageable resource, to a genre that is mostly filled with button mashing.

All major UFC fighters are playable in game, with the in-game models doing a great job of representing their real life counterparts. It's a great chance to step into the shoes of your favorite fighter as you punch, kick, and grapple your way to victory. In the event you want to create your own fighter, you can even do that as well.

When your fists or feet connect with an opponent, you can see the pain in their face as they stagger backwards. Hits and kicks feel heavy and powerful, with a real impact, and the animations are incredibly smooth. Fighters are molded after their real life counterparts in extreme detail down to tattoos and facial expressions. Everything about the fights just looks and feels fluid and polished from the lighting in the ring to the punching, kicking, and grappling itself.

The striking system for UFC 3 has been reworked from the system appearing in 1 and 2. Using the control stick on the right, you can now bob and sway to dodge and avoid incoming punches and kicks. This new striking system allows you to set up counterattacks by dodging and striking back-to-back allowing for more strategic counterplay. It encourages a delicate balance between offense and defense, as one smart move can lead to knocking out your opponent, whereas one wrong move can send you crumbling to the floor.