Cagewriter - UFC

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Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:30 am EST

Tunes are key to setting tone at UFC 93

By Steve Cofield

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.

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127 Comments

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  1. ruckaone
    1. Posted by ruckaone Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:55 pm EDT

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    How I could just kill a man- Cypruss Hill
  2. ANTHONY N
    2. Posted by ANTHONY N Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:00 pm EDT

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    first!...I don't know about you, but if you have to listen to some cheesy song to get amped up to fight on the largest stage in the world then you should probably hire a personal physician because you are about to get stomped in the cage. A song is a great tool for warming up, but entering the cage is a different story. You have to be focused on your opponent, not on the lyrics of a top 20 pop song. Geeze, with all of this new age marketing seeping into a proud undergroung sport like MMA, pretty soon we won't be able to tell the defference between MMA and "Professional wrestling". I'm just waiting to see the Undertaker take on the Ultimate Warrior in a cage suspended 10 feet in the air, with tables and barbed-wire on the next TUF. C'mon guys.
  3. Darkness!
    3. Posted by Darkness! Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    ""Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams Jr. Welterweight Matt Hughes"
    Gee- I dunno how Matt Hughes could be misconstrued as a racist redneck...
    : p
    ANTHONY-
    I can see ur point about ufc fighters not NEEDing music to get amped up. I think it's more to pump up the fans. That being said-
    alot of stuff by Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Creed, Seether, Rage Against The Machine would do...
    Nas- Hate Me Now is a cool one ("u don't give a f**k, I don't give a f**k; die mothaf**ka die mothaf**ka die")...
    I know someone's gonna jump my a$$ for this, but... wrestling music. wwe and tna actually put out some cool stuff to work out to, by bands like Killswitch Engage, Papa Roach, Our Lady Peace, Rev Theory, Puddle of Mudd, etc. Ok go ahead and rip me for training to wrestling music... i can take it.
  4. Nutcracker
    4. Posted by Nutcracker Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:22 pm EDT

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    Really TMZ ish...
  5. Rich Hansen
    5. Posted by Rich Hansen Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:42 pm EDT

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    Not the biggest Fitch fan, but him walking out to Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash really works.
    Still waiting for someone to come out to Taps...
  6. colin c
    6. Posted by colin c Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:50 pm EDT

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    Jaugernaut - baptised by fire
    it even makes you feel dangerous.
  7. ruckaone
    7. Posted by ruckaone Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:55 pm EDT

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    So some of you are saying you would walk out with no music? the fans would love that....
  8. tom_snigs
    8. Posted by tom_snigs Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:16 pm EDT

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    when Crop Cop used "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran during his fight with Gonzaga, that spelled the beginning of the end of his career.
  9. stingrey
    9. Posted by stingrey Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:30 pm EDT

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    *phew* cofield dodged a bullet there...thought he'd go the entire blog w/o mentioning wandy coming out to "sandstorm". Wanderlei single handedly saved that song from being played only by D-bags.
  10. Ican2
    10. Posted by Ican2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    Darkness,
    Bro... I really think you got some kind a crush on Hughes...Just come clean...Damn now his choice of midwestern music makes him a redneck..there's a shocker...;-b I hope when he fights the other clerichun he walks out to snoop or maybe some 50cent just for laughs.....that would be tight homie
  11. guru2
    11. Posted by guru2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:10 pm EDT

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    all sorts of song i havn't head that someone should walk out to
    "step up"---drowning pool
    "I am Everything"---Tech nine, kottonmouth kings, (hed) pe
    "Represent"----(hed) pe
    just to name a few...
  12. Ican2
    12. Posted by Ican2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    HHAHAHHAHAH "wild boys" God I remember that..I couldn't believe that $hit...Freaking savage...Someone forgot to remind him he was in a fight not a leather tecno gay club...
  13. oops!!
    13. Posted by oops!! Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:26 pm EDT

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    down with the sickness--disturbed
  14. fightchica
    14. Posted by fightchica Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:53 pm EDT

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    Being an AC/DC fan I'd like TNT or off the new one" War Machine" hell even "Spoiling for a Fight" is fitting
    Metallica's "Broken, Beat & Scarred" would be good
    Black Eyed Peas "Anxiety"
    On the Celtic side of things Enya's "The Celts" or "Boadicea"
    In the same vein Loreena McKennitt's "Kecharitomene"
    Almost anything by the Peppers or Ozzy would do too
    I do groove on the tune Juggernaut tho
    No worries on the wrestling music Darkness it is all in what gets you movin' I shake with Madonna Nelly Furtado
    Fergie and of course the Peas mixied in with Garth Brooks and Rob Zombie along with all the artists I mentioned earlier hey eighties beats really move a girl too! I know you're not a girl but you know what I mean.
  15. elguapo12
    15. Posted by elguapo12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:46 pm EDT

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    dave kaplan / tenderness was HILARIOUS!!! but i question if wanderlei was trying to be funny.
  16. Ican2
    16. Posted by Ican2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    Panzerfoust
    Screwdriver
    or my fav... Midtown boot boys...
  17. unclebenny
    17. Posted by unclebenny Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:05 pm EDT

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    "I wont deny it I'ma straight ridah U don't wanna F*** wit me" Ambitionz Az a Ridah by 2pac is by far the best entrance music ever. I don't know if any body has used it but it should be Rashad Evans intro.
  18. Peter F. Cormier
    18. Posted by Peter F. Cormier Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:07 pm EDT

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    Hell Bells...AC/DC
    Enter Sandman...Metallica
  19. RHINO
    19. Posted by RHINO Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:16 pm EDT

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    Tool- "Stinkfist"
    It's an awesome song in and of itself, but how intimidating would it be to face a guy coming out to a hard rock song about anal penetration. I would not want to face that person.
  20. Com-Pee-Ta
    20. Posted by Com-Pee-Ta Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:08 pm EDT

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    Puppet Master - Metallica
    Electric Funeral - Black Sabbath
    Keep Rollin' - Limp Biskit / DMX mix
  21. sam d
    21. Posted by sam d Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:23 pm EDT

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    Dave Kaplan coming out to Tenderness was probally the funniest things i've seen in MMA. And im waiting for a fighter to come out to some hardcore i saw it the first time i watched the UFC and now everyone comes out to rap. i want one fighter to come out to some hatebreed to make me happy.
  22. locolos
    22. Posted by locolos Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:55 pm EDT

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    best song ever for a walk to the cage - RESPECT by Pantera
  23. Brian K
    23. Posted by Brian K Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:27 pm EDT

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    i actually like tito's song eminem mosh
  24. Cage Rage
    24. Posted by Cage Rage Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:08 pm EDT

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    Well actually Anthony no disrespect but u are obviously not a fighter. Believe it or not it does help quite considerably be cause it helps bring emotions of all the hard work it took to get where u are at.. Intensity is very important to bring to the cage... And if it means listening to a song to do that so be it. To each their own bro Peace
  25. GW
    25. Posted by GW Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:20 pm EDT

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    The song title is " Walk " by Pantera. Disturbed also did a good live cover. "Respect" is by Aretha Franklin.

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