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UFC 123 walk-in music: Rap rules

UFC 123

Duane Burleson / AP

Matt Hughes, bottom, looks up at the referee after his bout was stopped 21 seconds into the first round during a welterweight mixed martial arts match against BJ Penn at UFC 123 on Saturday in Auburn Hills, Mich. Penn was declared the winner.

When you think of fighters trying to rip each other’s limbs off, ‘80s pop-rock love songs spring to mind, right? Not usually, but UFC veteran Dennis Hallman opted to walk down the tunnel at UFC 123 to British pop star Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love.” The 1986 pop hit tells the singer’s lover to, “Look inside your heart, I’ll look inside mine.” It’s doubtful these were the emotions going through Hallman’s mind as he took on Karo Parisyan, only making his song choice more hilarious. Perhaps this tune held some sort of personal significance for Hallman, but it certainly served to psych out his opponent, who he dismantled early in the first round.

Parisyan walked in to Notorious B.I.G.’s “Going Back to Cali” but should have tried “Going Back to the Drawing Board” as this proved to be his final fight in the UFC, at least for now. UFC President Dana White made the decision to cut the fighter following his lackluster performance. The song starts out with Diddy telling B.I.G. to, “Wake up, wake up baby.” Parisyan could have done with a wake up call before his fight but perhaps getting cut from the UFC will light a fire under him.

Brazilian Edson Barboza chose to show off his heritage with the song “Na Frente Do Reto” by O Rappa. The melodic, drum-heavy reggae rock song had mellow components to help steady the fighter’s nerves and an upbeat feel to elevate the mood. Barboza improved his perfect record to 7-0 with a hard-fought victory coming in the end of the third round against opponent Mike Lullo.

Lullo was one of many fighters who chose rap songs at UFC 123. He went with last year’s popular anthem “All the Above” by Maino, featuring T-Pain. The confident, uplifting lyrics translated well to the world of fighting. Lullo’s walk-in choice proclaimed, “How the hell could you stop me?” but Barboza answered this question easily: crippling leg kicks.

Continuing the rap song trend was George Sotiropoulos, who chose Lil’ Wayne’s “Drop the World.” The song did not mince words and exclaimed, “So I pick the world up/And I’ma drop in on your f****** head.” Sotiropoulos may not have dropped the world on Joe Lauzon, but he did drop a kimura on his arm.

Lauzon, who came in to “Move” by Christian rockers Thousand Foot Krutch, could have used a few more jiu-jitsu “moves” of his own to counter Sotiropoulos’ impressive submission skills.

A Lil’ Wayne track proved to be a winning song choice for another fighter, Phil Davis, who walked in to the New Orleans rapper’s “Right Above It.” The song recounts all the perks of being a young star with nothing but amazing opportunities, drawing the obvious parallel to Davis’ spotless 8-0 record.

His opponent, Tim Boetsch, ended up on the wrong end of a kimura despite his claims of being an “American Bad Ass” with his choice of the Kid Rock rap.

Maiquel Falcao was “On to the Next One,” the next rap song that is, with his choice by Jay Z featuring Swizz Beatz. The prideful song lists the rapper’s accomplishments and proved to represent Falcao’s post-fight thoughts with the line, “Y’all should be afraid of what I’m gonna do next.”

His opponent, Gerald Harris, opted for Twista’s “Darkness.” The rapper’s low and gravely voice gave a heaviness to the mood emphasized the gravity of the situation. Harris’ song choice warned Falcao, “You don’t wanna be around when the reaper comes,” though he appeared to have the roles reversed as he suffered a decision loss.

In addition to the plethora of rap songs ruling the airwaves, there were a couple of country standouts, both from Hank Williams Jr.

Matt Brown trotted down the tunnel to the appropriately titled “I’d Love to Knock the Hell Out of You,” although it was opponent Brian Foster who backed up that claim instead with a guillotine choke in the middle of the second round.

Hank Jr. reappeared from the speakers to usher Matt Hughes into the octagon with “A Country Boy Can Survive.” If that was Hughes’ idea of survival, hopefully he doesn’t start leading Outward Bound trips anytime soon. The former welterweight champ speedily lost to BJ Penn, who knocked him out in a mere 21 seconds after the Hawaiian fighter came in to his standard song, ”Hawaii '78”, which transitioned into ”E Ala E” by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

The bottom line from UFC 123’s walk-in music, Lil’ Wayne wins fights but Hank William’s Jr. does get your point across, even if you can’t back up his claims.

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