Music is the universal language that we all speak and interpret. Used as a tool for therapy, relaxation, focus and motivation, the lyric and sound melodies can alter the attitude and environment we are in.

Walkout music for any fighter can be a number if things. Dave Herman got my attention not by the TKO win at UFC 131 but by walking out to, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? – Culture Club. The comedic relief of these and others make us remember the fighter beyond their performance and gives them that fame, however good or bad.

Certain songs are synonymous with the fighter: Where My Dogs At? – DMX, Chuck Liddell; Mosh – Eminem; Tito Ortiz; Shippin Up To Boston – Dropkick Murphys; Forrest Griffin. They come out focused, amped and ready to go in to the octagon win, lose or draw.

There are other fighters who use their walkout to pay respect to their hometown or homecoming. Urijah Faber has always made it know that he is the Calfiornia Kid by walking out to California Love – 2pac; Mark Hominick blasted Comin Home – P.Diddy in front of the 55,000 sell out crowd for his featherweight title bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 129. Fellow Canadian fighter and UFC welterweight king, Georges St Pierre has made it common to walkout to French style hip hop and did it best at UFC 94.

Everyone is different in their selections and preferred styles to get them in the groove for training and before a fight. Joe Henle stated, “I listen mainly to rap to get me in the mood, 2pac or Tech N9ne.” USCS reached out to other fighters for their styles and walkout music selections

Tim Riscen – “I will listen to almost anything when I train. I like rap and mainly Eminem but I am open to a lot of different stuff.”

Frank Estrada – “It depends on what I am training at the time. It needs to have a good beat but when I train like my boxing or muay Thai, its electro or something high tempo. The walk out for my last fight was a personal mix of Wu Tang and Lil Wayne.”

D.J. Mackie – “We listen to a lot of Lil Wayne and southern rap.” Based out of Florida, the BJJ fighter and USCS writer has his songs selected for the fights this year and will be ready to take the victory with him. “Flame Fire Spitter or We Be Steady Mobbin – Lil Wayne are my choices for my upcoming fight in St. Augustine”

While hip hop is popular across the board, other fighters have made their choices be country (God’s Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash; Spencer Fisher) and some have chosen personal genres. Rick Davis walked out to gospel for his UFC 60 loss against Melvin Guillard; Antonio McKee told USCS his training music – “GOD homie, plain and simple.”

Breaking barriers of culture, censorship, artistic freedom and morals, the music scene has evolved like fighting and combat sports in general. Elvis Presley was deemed inappropriate when he gyrated his hips on television for the first time and is now recognized as the king of rock n roll. Similarly, MMA was on the path of being outlawed across the land in its early days and now has only a few states left to legislate it and is a worldwide enterprise.

Regardless of styles in fighting or music, everyone has their common theme that they connect with. The beauty of both is that it is a conversation piece, even if the conversation is defending your art or selection – you are still discussing it and making it known to those who may have not experienced it before. Let’s just hope that fighters stick to fighting so something like this (see below) never happens again.