Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Rafael dos Anjos has an undeniable warrior spirit, but he did not have to use too much of it in his rematch with Donald Cerrone in the UFC on Fox 17 headliner on Saturday at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
Meanwhile, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos made his entrance to the “Rocky” theme song “Gonna Fly Now,” by Bill Conti. However, his performance was far from Rocky Balboa-esque against onetime Strikeforce titleholder Alistair Overeem. The Dutchman landed a left hook on dos Santos’ chin and sent him crashing to the canvas in the second round. Overeem finished him with subsequent ground strikes.
Finally, UFC lightweight mainstay Nate Diaz rode Eminem’s “Don’t Make Enemies” into his matchup with Michael Johnson and did the opposite. He out-boxed Johnson to a unanimous decision, taunting him as he did so, and then called out featherweight champion Conor McGregor in a profanity-laced tirade during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
Other notable walkout songs included Dethklok’s “Thunderhorse,” which trumpeted Tamdan McCrory’s arrival prior to his submission victory over Josh Samman; Young Jeezy’s “Put On,” which was chosen by Jim Alers before his undercard bout with Cole Miller resulted in a no-contest due to an eye poke; and Machine Gun Kelly’s “Invincible,” which brought Randa Markos to the cage before her decision loss to the unbeaten Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
A rundown follows:
UFC on Fox 17 Walkout Songs
Rafael dos Anjos: “O Grito de um Guerreiro”| MC SapaoDonald Cerrone: “Cowboy”| Kid Rock
Junior dos Santos: “Gonna Fly Now”| Bill Conti
Michael Johnson: “I’m Bad”| LL Cool J
Nate Diaz: “Don’t Make Enemies” | Eminem
Randa Markos: “Invincible” | Machine Gun Kelly
Karolina Kowalkiewicz: “The Passenger”| Iggy Pop
Charles Oliveira: “O Humo” | Fernandinho
Myles Jury: “Me, Myself and I” | G-Eazy and Bebe Rexha
C.B. Dollaway: “My Silver Lining” | First Aid Kit
Nate Marquardt: “Lazarus” | Trip Lee feat. Thi-sl
Sarah Kaufman: “I Wanna Destroy You” | The Soft Boys
Josh Samman: “The Beach” | Dr. Dog
Tamdan McCrory: “Thunderhorse” | Dethklok
Danny Castillo: “Get ’Em High” | Kanye West
Nik Lentz: “Greatest Show Unearthed” | Creature Feature
Cole Miller: “Salute Your Solution” | The Ranconteurs
Jim Alers: “Put On” | Young Jeezy
Kamaru Usman: “Tchelete” | DaVido feat. Mafikizolo
Leon Edwards: “The Rain” | DMX
Vicente Luque: “Baby Baby” | Tropkillaz
Hayder Hassan: “Can’t be Touched” | Roy Jones Jr.
Francis Ngannou: “Braveheart” | Enya
Luis Henrique Barbosa de Oliveira: “Marginal Menestrel” | MV Bill