Tunes are key to setting tone at UFC 93
Some fighters don't give a damn about their entrance music as they walk to the cage for battles in the UFC. But most handpick their own song and some even lose their mind as they approach the cage.
Neil Davidson from the Canadian Press did a fun story on the musical choices over the years and he got the scoop on some of the UFC 93 playlist:
Dan Henderson - "Lunatic Fringe" by Red Rider
Rich Franklin - "For Those About to Rock" by AC/DC
Denis Kang - "Molotov 4" by Sefyu
Tom Egan - "Patience" by Damien Dempsey
The music is usually chosen to fire up the crowd but sometimes the fighters get too jacked:
UFC execs got a hint of the English appetite for MMA when local favourite Michael Bisping walked in to Blur's "Song 2" at UFC 70 in Manchester in April 2007, the UFC's first show in the United Kingdom in almost five years. The sellout crowd of 14,921 at the MEN Arena went wild, screaming "woo-hoo" along with the song. Bisping was so pumped he ran to the cage and had to be reminded to take off his T-shirt and running shoes.
Davidson listed the best entrance songs:
THE GOOD
"Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones. Heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
"Eminence Front" by the Who. Light-heavyweight Stephan Bonnar.
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys. Light-heavyweight Forrest Griffin.
"Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams Jr. Welterweight Matt Hughes.
GUILTY PLEASURES
"Shout at the Devil" by Motley Crue. Heavyweight Brock Lesnar.
"Mother" by Danzig. Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga
"Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock. Light-heavyweight Houston (The Assassin) Alexander.
"Ladies and Gentlemen" by Saliva. Middleweight Martin (The Hitman) Kampmann.
Two of the oddest that Davidson listed were "Imagine" for Jeff Monson at UFC 65 and "To Forgive But Not Forget" for Amir Sadollah at the TUF 7 Finale. Some of my favorites are "Intro" by DMX (Chuck Liddell), "You Don't Really Beef" by Davey B (Matt Serra), "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" by Ennio Morricone (Heath Herring), "Onward to Victory by Icepick" (Andrei Arlovski) and "Ain't no Sunshine" by DMX (Anderson Silva).
Based on comedic value "Sandstorm" by Darude (Wanderlei Silva) and "Tenderness" by General Public (Dave Kaplan) must get a mention too.
