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UFC 148 walk-out music: Finding the victor in prophetic lyrics

UFC 148

Sam Morris

Anderson Silva enters for his bout against Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 Saturday, July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Some fighters come out to songs intended to be hilarious like Tom Lawlor’s choice of Olivia Newton John’s “Physical” at UFC 139. Others are more subtly amusing like Khabib Nurmagomedov’s choice of Maino’s “Remember My Name.” The Russian lightweight fighter likely went for this bit of levity knowing the underlying meaning but it certainly worked in his favor as he added to his perfect record with a narrowly won unanimous decision victory over Gleison Tibau.

Tibau boldly walked out to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” While the decision might have been too close to call, he certainly didn’t look like the man of steel against his opponent, who took him down several times. Lyrics like “He just stares at the world/ Planning his vengeance” prove a little prophetic as Tibau now must look ahead to his next fight.

Melvin Guillard opted for The Fugees’ “Ready or Not.” The song starts out with the hide and seek mantra, “Ready or not, here I come,” warning the opponent. Lyrics like, “I play my enemies like a game of chess,” indicate the focus Guillard employed to take the battle, a fight of the night contender, all three rounds and prove he was deserving of the victory.

After the fight, Guillard’s opponent Fabricio Camoes only had “Memories” to hold on to, so it is fitting he walked out to the song by David Guetta featuring Kid Cudi. Lyrics like “I just wanna let it go for the night / That would be the best therapy for me,” indicate the way a fighter might feel after a loss and thus this might not have been the best choice for an entrance song.

Canadian-Salvadoran fighter Ivan Menjivar walked out to Moussier Tombola’s “Logobitombo.” The song’s French lyrics might have been confusing to some of the crowd but its infectious dance beat should have set the tone for a peppy fight. Instead, Menjivar was rather tentative for much of the fight, eliciting boos many time. His upbeat music wasn’t enough to carry him to victory and he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Mike Easton.

Easton chose a similarly fun and danceable song, “Bustin’ Loose” by Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers. The funky song talks of wanting to bust loose and party which is probably just what Easton did after his victory. The song ends with, “Gotta do it again,” which is certainly the name of the game in the fight industry.

Chad Mendes walked out to “Country Boy” by Aaron Lewis. Lyrics like, “’Cause a country boy is all I’ll ever be,” don’t set the bar too high career-wise. The humble lyrics do give way to a pride Mendes certainly earned the right to after his 31-second knockout victory over Cody McKenzie.

McKenzie came out to yet another song that could be seen as prophetic of a loss. He could definitely join the subject matter of his song choice after his quick loss following an entrance to the song “The Kids Aren’t Alright” by The Offspring. The song talks of a neighborhood that didn’t turn out to be the nirvana children hoped but rather a bleak and broken reality, much like the world McKenzie was living in after taking three hard rights from Mendes to end the fight.

Patrick Cote went with old school hip-hop and walked out to MC Hammer’s “Too Legit To Quit.” Appropriately, his fight against Cung Le went all three rounds and Cote proved he was indeed not going to quit. Despite several attempts to change the tide of the fight, Cote found himself on the losing end of the battle as he succumbed to a unanimous decision victory by Le.

Le wasn’t above self-promotion as he walked out to a song produced by Wu Tang Clan’s RZA, director of the new film “The Man With the Iron Fists,” in which Le stars. The fighter embraced hip-hop as he proudly represented his upcoming film. Having a win under the belt of one of your stars is certainly good way to promote a kung fu movie.

Sun reporter Case Keefer said it best when he tweeted, “If you had "Mosh" in the "What Eminem song will Tito Ortiz out to" pool, you are the winner.” Ortiz, who traditionally walks out to one of several Eminem songs, opted for “Mosh,” the same song he had walked out to at his two previous battles with Forrest Griffin. The song makes a great walk-out anthem with its lyrics of leadership and a call to action, worthy for a fighter’s last walk down the tunnel. Lyrics like, “Now is the final hour,” aptly sum up the feelings before any fight, particularly a fighter’s final one. Like the controversial decisions in the preceding Griffin-Ortiz battles, this one could have also gone either way, though the judges sided with Griffin.

Forrest Griffin kept with tradition and walked out to his customary “Shipping up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys. No surprise there but Griffin saved his theatrics for after the fight. After immediately exiting the octagon following his victory and being coaxed back by UFC President Dana White, Griffin grabbed the microphone and bizarrely interrogated Tito Ortiz, denying him his final octagon interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, before he retired. Ortiz probably would have liked to ship Griffin up to Boston after that stunt.

For the main event, Chael Sonnen stuck with his favorite tune of the past three years, “Too Much Fun” by Daryle Singletary. With the media circus he helped create surrounding his battle with champ Anderson Silva, it’s likely the trash talking and build up really are “Too Much Fun” for Sonnen. While the agony of defeat certainly isn’t, Sonnen took the high road after his loss and admirably said Silva was, “a true champion.”

The champion also kept his streak alive, and not just his winning streak. Silva again walked out to “Ain’t No Sunshine” by DMX. The haunting rendition of the song evokes a patient ferocity, which is exactly what Silva employed, waiting for the right moment to land his flurry of punches and a knee that ended the fight.

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