Something's Got to Give: MMA's 5 Most Cliche Entrance Songs

Dear MMA fighters mentioned in this slideshow,

What follows has nothing whatsoever to do with your capacities in combat sports. In fact, I'm a fan of each and every one of you. That's kind of my thing, actually. I'm a fan.

And while it may seem at first like I am insulting you here, I come to you today as a friend, with one simple message.

You can do better.

It's your entrance song. It just...it's just not getting it done. And hey, I realize there are more important things on your mind. You don't come to the arena to listen to music; you come to fight. Good thing I'm here, then, because there is nothing more important on my mind.

First things first: If someone selected that entrance song for you, go ahead and fire them. Pick up the phone and do it now. They'll thank you one day. I'm almost sure of it. And if you selected the song yourself, well, consider this the first day of the rest of your life. 

If you do these things, if you really commit, maybe one day your entrance song will no longer find itself here, on a list of the five biggest cliches in the world of MMA fighter entrance music.

5. "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins

Used by: Ed Herman, Terry Etim (also boxer Riddick Bowe)

I get why it's popular. It's got a seriously high goose-bump factor. However, at this point, it's so overused in the sports world that it's one minivan commercial away from "Crazy Train" territory. 

4. "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled

Used by: Renan Barao, Kimbo Slice, Sean McCorkle(!)

A decent song that just fell victim to MMA overuse. And quickly. 

I realize entrance song selection is not a daily fixture in the pro fighter's regimen, but it's amazing how fast any song like this—by which I mean any song containing the words "fight," "win," "hit," "blood" or "disease"—gets beaten into the ground, pun most certainly intended.

I'm not expecting to hear the South by Southwest lineup over the PA system. But a little bit of fresh thinking can go a long way.

3. "Not Afraid" by Eminem

Used by: Tito Ortiz, Eliot Marshall, Jamie Varner, Mark Bocek, Joe Brammer

Thanks to his lifetime of achievements, Slim is surely a first-ballot entrant into the Cliched Walkout Song Recording Artist Hall of Fame. Kid Rock and AC/DC will carry him around the stage on their shoulders, while Will.i.am snaps photos and Linkin Park nods approvingly.

2. "Gonna Fly Now" by Bill Conti

Used by: Junior dos Santos, Matt Serra, Fabio Maldonado, Mike Pyle

Dear hardcore Rocky fans: earmuffs!

I like the movies well enough, but the franchise's de facto theme song is as worn out as gray sweatsuits and shouting for Adrian. The Stallone accent is so played that even ironic imitations are non-starters, and its musical bedfellow is no different. There, I said it. 

Honorable mention here goes to Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," which has been used by Tyson Griffin and Chris Cope.  

1. "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed

Used by: Steve Cantwell, Rousimar Palhares, Mark "I really need better taste in music" Bocek

True, other songs are more heavily used, but this one still tops the list because it's the most prominent representative of an entrance music subgenre that has festered for too long and, frankly, must be stopped.

You know the stuff. It's "Last Resort" by Papa Roach, used regularly by Dennis Siver. It's "Bodies" by Drowning Pool, employed by Shane Carwin. It's "Enter Sandman," Brock Lesnar's old standby. It's anything by Linkin Park.

I get that it "gets the crowd pumped up" and all, but you can accomplish that without subjecting people to decade-old pseudo-rebellion weak-sauce mosh-pit fodder from the Anger Management Tour. I'm just saying.