The Walkmen: UFC 185 Walkout Songs

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Not many people expected underdog challenger Rafael dos Anjos to give Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Anthony Pettis a whole lot of trouble at UFC 185, let alone to actually win their main event on Saturday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Apparently, tireless commitment in the gym pays off, along with choosing the correct entrance music for the most important fight of one’s life. Dos Anjos clearly spent more time grinding out training sessions than he did selecting his walkout track, but “O Grito De Um Guerreiro” made more sense than some might think.

It loosely translates to “The Crying Warrior,” and dos Anjos had reason to shed plenty of tears of joy after he trounced Pettis across five rounds and secured a 50-45 unanimous decision. The popular track from Brazilian artist MC Sapao was the perfect song for dos Anjos, as Pettis undoubtedly cried out in frustration after being thoroughly dominated by a man few picked to win; and the “Showtime” theme might need to be changed in the future because the man who recently graced the Wheaties box must now return to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong in Texas.

Meanwhile, Carla Esparza certainly did not envision losing her title, nor see the right hand that signaled the end of her brief reign atop the UFC women’s strawweight division. The Team Oyama standout and new champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk should have switched walkout tracks before they headed to the cage. Esparza opted for Metallica’s metal classic “Harvester of Sorrow,” but Jedrzejczyk did the harvesting. Crisp striking and killer instinct proved a recipe for success, as the Pole snatched away the 115-pound title in decisive fashion.

Beloved brawler Matt Brown went with popular neo metal act Avenged Sevenfold’s “Hail to the King” as his walkout track, but he was forced to pay homage to former welterweight king Johny Hendricks after three grueling rounds. “Bigg Rigg” applied all sorts of pressure and created plenty of anguish for Brown, who fell short in his upset bid. Hendricks made the right call with the Josh Abbott Band’s “My Texas,” as the Dallas-based welterweight took his latest win before a partisan hometown crowd.

Other solid selections included Elias Theodorou with the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” Roy Nelson with Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and Ross Pearson with The Fugees’ “Ready or Not.” A rundown of the UFC 185 soundtrack follows:

UFC 185 WALKOUT SONGS

Rafael dos Anjos: MC Sapao “O Grito De Um Guerreiro”
Anthony Pettis: Jim Jones and Tum Tum “Showtime”
Carla Esparza: Metallica “Harvester of Sorrow”
Johny Hendricks: Josh Abbott Band “My Texas”
Matt Brown: Avenged Sevenfold “Hail to the King”
Roy Nelson: Bruce Springsteen “Born in the USA”
Henry Cejudo: Lil’ Rob “Summer Nights”
Chris Cariaso: Drake “Energy”
Ross Pearson: The Fugees “Ready or Not”
Sam Stout: Saigon “Come On Baby”
Elias Theodorou: The Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil”
Roger Narvaez: LeCrae “Sacrifice”
Beneil Dariush: Michael Jackson “Rock With You”
Daron Cruickshank: Elvis Presley “Trouble”
Jared Rosholt: Red Rider “Lunatic Fringe”
Josh Copeland: Fall Out Boy “Light Em Up”
Ryan Benoit: Rae Sremmurd “No Flex Zone”
Sergio Pettis: Diggy Simmons “Great Expectations”
Jake Lindsey: Diddy feat. Swizz Beatz “Ass on the Floor (Instrumental)”
Germaine de Randamie: Angerfist & Radical Redemption “Messenger of God”
Larissa Pacheco: Pra Quem Tem Fe “O Rappo -- Anjos”