Punchy UFC walk-in music sings out for blood

Justin M. Bowen

Lyoto Machida, right, connects with Shogun Rua Saturday night during the main event of UFC 104 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Machida won a controversial unanimous decision for the UFC light heavyweight title.

By Allison Duck (contact)

Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 | 10:42 a.m.

UFC 104 was filled with controversy and so were the walk-in music choices.

Many of the songs fighters choose have the typical semi-veiled threats right in the titles, but this time these calls to arms left little to the imagination.

With titles like “Bleed it Out” (Lyoto Machida’s choice), “God’s Going to Cut You Down” (Spencer Fisher’s choice) and “Burn it to the Ground,” (Ben Rothwell's choice) it might not be too clichéd to say these fighters were out for blood.

In contrast to that, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson added to his good-natured, dad-next-door persona with the peppy anthem “I’ve Got a Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas.

The upbeat song repeats the line “I’ve got a feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night/That tonight’s gonna be a good good night.”

Even when he caught a few blows from Spencer Fisher, Stevenson smiled through the pain. It turned out to be a very good night for Stevenson indeed, as he won a TKO victory over Fisher after raining elbows at the end of the final round. The Black Eyed Peas’ tune proved to be prophetic for Stevenson.

Kyle Kingsbury waked in to another one of those all too appropriate why’d-no one-think-of-that songs, Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf.”

While it doesn’t outright say “I’m gonna pump you full of lead” or “Death is coming,” like some raps or metal songs, the subtlety is not lost with fight fans.

In addition to the melodic sing-a-long nature of the song, the lyrics very directly say, “I’m on the hunt; I’m after you.” Kingsbury wound up with a split decision in his first UFC win but acknowledged he might not have been the hungriest wolf this time around and would “tweak some things” and work harder on his cardio for the next fight.

The award for best use of the most unique song goes to Stefan Struve for the instrumental Marilyn Manson song “Seizure of Power.”

The lyric-less song might seem an odd choice, especially from an artist with such powerful and fear-inspiring lyrics. However, the staccato pounding of the drum and bass and overall intensity of the tune proved an excellent blend to pump Struve up for his battle with Chase Gormley, whom Struve was able to submit with a triangle choke in the first round.

In a change from the macabre music that usually rules the Octagon, Chael Sonnen walked in to “Too Much Fun” by Daryle Singletary.

Country songs have a bit of a stigma in the ring as most fighters opt for classic rock, metal or rap. Sonnen, the underdog in his fight against Yushin Okami, did not seem to care about what others would think and boldly walked out to the twangy lines of “I’m a holy terror, a tornado/Wind me up, turn me loose, and let me go.”

While it wasn’t quite that easy for Sonnen, who was on the receiving end of a lot of Okami’s counterpunches, he emerged victorious with a unanimous decision.

Another outside-the-box song didn’t go over as well with the crowd. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua trotted in to trance DJ and producer Armin Van Buuren’s “Sail.”

While fighters are trying to pump themselves up for fights with their walk-in music, it’s not a bad idea to remember the crowd is listening too. I can’t see too many UFC fans going wild about clubby trance music when they are about to see a fight.

This isn’t the dance floor at Rain or Pure; this is a battleground. One reporter in attendance said, “Worst entrance music I’ve seen in any card to date...terrible,” about Rua’s choice.

Luckily, Rua’s performance in the Octagon far surpassed the music he entered to and might garner him a re-match as many believed his efforts were enough to capture the light heavyweight belt.

Lyoto Machida insinuated his game plan through the choice of Linkin Park’s “Bleed it Out.”

This could easily have been the re-mix, “Wait it Out,” as this championship bout went the full five rounds before heading to a controversial decision in favor of Machida.

He traded punches and leg kicks with Rua for 25 minutes and many booing fans in the crowd were not convinced Machida eeked out the victory. The brutal honesty of Linkin Park’s lyrics, “F*** this hurts/I won’t lie” took on a whole new meaning as Machida’s win was put into question.

In addition to the brutal flying knee Rua landed in the second round, a controversial victory must hurt. But alas, it is still a win for the light heavyweight champ.