MMA: The 20 Most Memorable Ring Entrances In History

Not every competitor feeds off the crowd, and vice versa.

But there are more than a few out there who do. And seeing as how MMA is a cold, hard business just like any other, personality goes a long way toward marketability, which in turn goes a long way toward determining who gets the choicest fights and card positioning.

That is probably why so many fighters and their camps choose to invest a little (or a lot) of their energy into the ring entrance. It’s not a necessity, of course, and it won’t make a bad fighter good. But if it gets fans and matchmakers to take notice, then it can’t help but help.

Here are the 20 most memorable ring entrances in MMA history. Some rankings are based on a single walkout, while others recognize a full body of work. And keep in mind, this isn’t a popularity contest, so a screaming crowd doesn’t necessarily equal a great entrance. Ditto an entrance song, as that was covered in a previous list.

And finally, if you’re a fan of Pride, you’re gonna like this list…just saying.

20. Wanderlei Silva

The "Sandstorm" theme, those ring shoes that look custom-built for soccer kicks, plus the expectant, “I get to fight now!” look on Silva’s face all make this a pretty energizing walkout.

19. Andrei Arlovski

Fangs, hair and screaming hardcore. Pretty intimidating.

18. Kimo Leopoldo

Perhaps the strangest ring entrance of all time.

Leopoldo, a devout Christian in the same way Donald Trump is a devout capitalist, carried a cross on his back to the Octagon back at UFC 3.

Sadly, or perhaps thankfully, all video evidence of this seems to have been expunged from existence, as if vaporized by a lightning bolt.

17. Matt Hughes

With his team soberly in tow and Hank Williams, Jr. on the speakers, Hughes’ purposeful stride invokes a Wild West sheriff heading to the town square to disarm the latest rabble-rousers.

16. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

Here, making his way to the ring to face Jason “Mayhem” Miller at DREAM 4, Souza shows that a little fan participation goes a long way.

With no posse to speak of, no discernible wardrobe or choreography, relatively minimal pyrotechnics and a fairly lackluster theme song, Jacare (which means “alligator” in Portugese) relies on his fans and a simple Gator dance in the aisles to make his impression. 

Not to be outdone, Miller sings along to the Marley staple as Souza walks toward the ring.

15. Clay Guida

The term "walkout" doesn't really fit here. It's more of a bounce-out.

With the high-octane music, flailing hair and high-fives all the way down the aisle, it doesn’t get much more high energy than a Clay Guida entrance.

14. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal

A classic hip-hop-style entrance. The speakers thump out the rhythm for Lawal's bevy of ladies, who gyrate their assets and sprinkle flower petals at King Mo's feet. One of them even holds an umbrella over his head, Diddy-style. All the better to keep his crown shining.

If only his actual fights were this entertaining.

13. Tito Ortiz

Warning: those who are prone to seizures should proceed with caution.

Today’s UFC can seem a little staid compared with the over-the-top theatrics of Pride and other promotions, but as evidenced by this video, that wasn’t always the case. Ortiz was always just as interested (or more so?) in the sizzle as he was the steak, and this walkout at UFC 32 was possibly his crowning achievement in showmanship.

It was so explosive, in fact, that I’m willing to rank it on here despite its use of a Limp Bizkit song.

12. B.J. Penn

When the first strains of his entrance song begin, the crowd doesn't so much erupt as enter into a respectful hush.

It's like a Hawaiian king is making his way to the cage.

11. Diego Sanchez

Is this walkout definitely the winner on the unintentional comedy meter? YES!

10. Anderson Silva

His UFC walkouts may not be the stuff of legend, but his entrance at Pride 21 to the Michael Jackson hit "Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough" proves The Spider can bust a move or two outside the Octagon as well as in.

And how…this dude can dance.

9. Royce Gracie

The original UFC champion was also the original UFC showman.

In his earliest fights, he bounded to the ring at the back of a train of family members, each resting his hands on the shoulders of the man in front of him, as a sign of solidarity.

Later on, he eschewed more traditional music for sweeping battle hymns, perhaps the most memorable of which was the climactic theme song from "The Last of the Mohicans." In this clip, from PRIDE Shockwave 2003, Gracie is sloooowly lowered to the catwalk like some otherwordly being arriving to stake his planet’s claim to dominance.

8. Kazushi Sakuraba

He has come out in Lucha Libre masks and spiked shoulder pads, among other getups. But perhaps the crowning moment came in his 2003 Pride fight with Kevin Randleman, when he came out dressed as…Mario?

7. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

This needs little introduction or explanation. It is one of the most distinctive walkouts in combat sports. 

What gets lost in the shuffle sometimes is just how uncanny Jackson’s ululation really is. That is one hell of a good howl.

6. Yokihiro Akiyama

The soaring notes of "Time to Say Good-Bye" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, combined with the mid-walk prayers and the full karate getup, all evoke a respect, and even a healthy fear, for what is about to take place in the cage.

It lends an air of grace, beauty and sobriety to the proceedings. It makes you feel that, by watching him fight, you’re part of something special.

5. Jason “Mayhem” Miller

This first-ballot walkout hall of famer outdoes himself at DREAM 9 in 2009, when he dances to the ring on the arms of about 10 Japanese school girls.

If someone could ever get Mayhem to come out of his shell a little bit, he could make a fairly engaging media personality.

4. Fedor Emelianenko

This walkout, from his fight at YARENNOKA 31 against Hong Man Choi, is a great embodiment of the Emelianenko mystique.

The entrance is not especially elaborate, but it quietly and coldly asserts Fedor's supremacy, and hints that now may be an appropriate time for lesser humans to become frightened.

Fedor’s emotionless, “I must do violence now” gaze sets the chill factor almost off the charts.

3. Tom “The Filthy Mauler” Lawlor

Sometimes it’s hard to pick just one clip. Especially when you’re talking about Lawlor, or, as I like to call him, the LeBron James of MMA entrances.

Whether he’s channeling Hulk Hogan, rocking James Brown’s "Living in America" or, as in this clip, leading Seth Petruzelli to the ring on a leash to the tune of "Who Let the Dogs Out," Lawlor works in walkouts the way another great artist might work in metals or watercolor. 

A scheduled UFC 134 bout with Maiquel Falcao was called off after Falcao was cut from the promotion, but here’s hoping Lawlor (3-2 in the UFC) returns to action sooner rather than later, and does so with a victory.  He is simply too good a showman for the UFC to lose.

2. Akihiro Gono

After enjoying Akihiro’s entrances for the last 20 minutes or so, I have come to the conclusion that the sport of mixed martial arts means something different to Akihiro than it does to pretty much everyone else.

His entrances are very funny, but they’re also very clever and self-aware. The whole thing is a wink…“Don’t forget you’re supposed to be enjoying this.”

The coup d’etat comes at UFC 94, when Akihiro and crew skitter to the Octagon in drag costumes straight out of the Motown museum. The spectacle illustrated two things: one, that constantly having to outdo yourself can be dangerous. Two, those who lament the passage of Pride because it hurt theatrics may want to turn their ire in part toward the fighters.

There’s no crime against showmanship, and this walkout—at which Akihiro fought his galactic polar opposite in Jon Fitch—just proves that.

1. Genki Sudo

If all the ring’s a stage, Genki Sudo is its greatest player.

In this compliation, you see him as a baseball player, a Native American tribal chief and Buckethead (yes, the guitarist).

At one point he is carried to the ring on a litter.

Another walkout seems to feature airport runway technicians.

He is representing all sorts of people and cultures, and does so with literally dozens of dancers crammed behind him on the catwalk. It’s like one big Michael Jackson video.

Where Akihiro was going at least in part for laughs, Genki is going for pure awe. Think a one-man Beijing opening ceremony.

What else can you say? Bow down to the master.