As far as Mortal Kombat characters go, Cassie Cage is pretty fun. She chews gum, kicks arse, and takes selfies with the jawless corpses of her victims. She also bears an odd resemblance to UFC fighter Felice Herrig, something Herrig thinks is more than a coincidence.
Herrig, who fights on this weekend’s UFC on FOX 15 card, was first made aware of Cassie Cage a few months ago. Back then, she found the resemblance to be a bit odd, but she didn’t have a whole lot to go on.
In recent days, however, more footage and promo materials have surfaced, and Herrig doesn’t like what she sees:
She’s moved from bemused amusement to full-on suspicion that her likeness is being used without her permission, chalking it up to the fact that Cassie Cage has a similar face, blows a mean gum bubble, and positions herself as a selfie superstar (Herrig is somewhat notorious in the MMA world for taking a fuckton of selfies).
Granted, there’s still plenty of room for this to be a big coincidence. Those are some pretty specific screenshots and poses, and the Mortal Kombat team could’ve used any number of references to help bring them to life. I asked WB for comment, but as of publish time they had yet to respond.
Still, I hope for the Mortal Kombat team’s sake that this is all just a big misunderstanding. Let us put it this way: I certainly wouldn’t want Herrig angry at me.
Comments
31 responses to “MMA Fighter Claims The New Mortal Kombat Ripped Off Her Likeness”
……… no
Sorry but no. Cassies a pretty generic ‘cute little blonde’ in MKX. This is just wishful thinking.
I’d give her a better chance than Lindsay Lohan has against Rockstar.
But not as high as Ellen Page against Naughty Dog.
That was a little bit more flagrant (especially with the character name ‘Ellie’). I’d be advising WB to settle this before it goes too far.
Felice is as annoying as they come. She was appalling to watch on the season of Ultimate Fighter she was on. Even my wife was happy when she got beaten.
Same with mine, she wanted to see her “cunt punted”. Her words.
Hahahaha!
I’m just gonna say, if I were an MMA fighter, and I thought that a character in Mortal Kombat was based off of me, I’d:
A) Think it’s pretty freaking funny
B) Feel pretty privileged that they thought I was a good enough fighter to base my image off of, and
C) Only use that character when I played
Like, yeah, I may call them up and ask if I was the inspiration BEFORE making an arse of myself, and then I’d tell them that if I was the inspiration, I don’t care about royalties or anything, cause I think it’s pretty sweet, and I’d take it as an honour.
And that’s why you’re a poor person bumming around on the internet instead of snorting sapphires off the back of a walrus in a pool of caviar.
Tell me more.
Would it just be the back of the walrus or an entire walrus?
Who would be in the pool; the walrus, myself, or the two of us?
Would the pool be Olympic standard, inflatable, or a table?
If this happens in Winter, can I elect to have the caviar heated to avoid discomfort?
Will the walrus be submerged in the caviar and if so, will I have the appropriate apparatus to go hunting?
These sapphires, how will they be affixed to the walrus back in such a way that while I’m diving in my Olympic standard pool of heated caviar they won’t become dislodged?
Thank you.
You’re asking the real questions.
Jesus, straight to the hardcore questions!
All I’m saying is that if I were an MMA fighter, royalties from one game would be the least of my worries, especially since it could be great exposure if it were played right.
You can call them jerks for insisting they get compensation when they believe their likeness has been used and that’s fair in a lot of these cases, but the thing that drives it is that athletes don’t have super long careers. She’s not an actress who values exposure because she’s trying to build a thirty year career, and even if she were she should still have control over whether she wants that free exposure or not.
It sounds sell-out-ish to prioritise money but she needs to make money while she can, and considering how brutal her work is I’m not going to give her crap for insisting that she gets compensated for use of her image during this short window where her image is actually worth something.
I fully understand that, but if you’re going to seek royalties, you should at least put some sort of, not positive spin, but at least a “fairness” on it.
Posting on Facebook how she looks like her isn’t the way to go.
She should have gone to them privately, keep it discreet.
Though, I was saying (might be because I’m a gamer and not an MMA fighter), that I would have found it cool if a fighter looked like me, haha! 😀
Well, bad publicity is the best form of publicity. It’s what people crave more than discreet publicity. Brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
So people can stand up for their rights but hide it from people because they don’t want to see it? Why does everyone think being loud is a bad thing? Is it some sort of conservative insecurity?
You aren’t in that position. They make a lot of their career earnings off their image and have to protect and manage it.
If she does take it further though mk will just roll out the actual model she is based on.
The poses she’s in for promotional art are so generic I could find lots of blondes that have photos of them like it. It’s a very weak case to make in my eyes.
That’s ignoring the obvious hair and facial differences. All that aside I don’t see the big deal personally- the characters design looks like a lot of characters and even people I have seen. But that’s just me.
Yeah, ’cause she’s clearly got the monopoly on the old ‘fist-in-hand’ pose, that’s never been done before by anyone ever.
This is going to be like that lindsay lohan GTA5 shitstorm all over again
So it’ll blow over in a week? Cool.
Who else could it be based on? It’s not like America has a lot of gum chewing, faux blonde, selfie taking women in it.
This would be like if a white male actor/singer/sportsdude with short brown hair, stubble and a cute, shit-eating grin suddenly said, “Hey! I think Nathan Drake/Joel Miller/Alan Wake/Chris Redfield/a lot of video game protagonists are stealing my likeness!”
Unlike many celebrities, Wrestlers trade on their image. not just just their face, but the entire character, outfit, etc. If they did copy her image, it’d be no different than copying any fictional character.
Except she isn’t in the WWE. She isnt a wrestler, she is a fighter. She is in the UFC. She isn’t a fictional character, she is a real person.
A really boring generic person, who besides the muscular physique could be literally anyone else. Theres no way she could afford to take them to court even if she wanted to.
cant wait for felice herrig vs paige van zant
If i had an extra pair of arms I would claim Goro ripped of my likeness too
Straws + clutching.
She’d probably (literally) pound me to a pulp for saying it … but she’s cute (apart from the cornrows) …
Maybe if all blonde women that have ever taken had a photo taken blowing gum banded together and filed a class action suit. I really doubt they would of based cassis cage off herrig, and there’s a good chance she knows that. All she is chasing is her name and face on as much main stream media as she can get so she can push for a reebok deal. On a more serious note, with how ripped these women fighters are, damn they’d be fun in bed, it’d be like a vice between their legs
Till they flex down there and rip the little fella clean off. I can only speak for myself,but knowing the risk involved I would be all over her without a second thought