The Psychology of Walkout Music

Mixed Martial Arts is, and always been, as much a mental game as it is a physical competition.

Don't believe it?

Consider the walkout music.

We all saw it when Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and Randy Couture walked out to the cage when they were at their best. Wanderlei Silva still gets people as amped up for his fights as they were when he was wrecking shop in PRIDE. Jose Aldo makes people think more of his featherweight dominance and less of Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West when he walks out to "Run This Town", and Anderson Silva...

...I rest my case.

Ever since MMA fighters started using walkout music, their use of it has catalyzed the adrenaline of fans worldwide, invigorated commentators, creating an electrifying atmosphere in the arena and out.

So what happens to their opponent?

One may think that they are inspired to fight when hearing their opponents' walkout music, but does it really go down like that?

Short answer: it depends on whom you ask.

Sometimes, the right walkout theme can inspire more of the warrior spirit in a fighter than what the televisions and the UFC TV streams will show, so there are times when it really does go down like that.

If a fighter has earned an "aura" about them, to the point where the simple blaring of their walkout music is enough to intimidate their opponent, then they've gained an edge before they even step in the ring, and their mental game has succeeded.

Yet for the most part, these are professionals and they will are ready to rumble with or without entrance music. There was no walkout music in the beginning days of the UFC, just as there wasn't in the early days of MMA.

Therefore, the real target audience for the walkout music is us.