UFC 196 on Saturday was supposed to be a showcase for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest star and its newest queen. As it turns out, Conor McGregor and Holly Holm both became victims of rear-naked chokes, capping an event that featured superb submissions and sensational knockouts.
Meanwhile, Miesha Tate shocked the MMA world by putting defending women’s bantamweight champion Holm to sleep in the fifth round of their co-main event. Her walkout track in hindsight was right on the money, as she opted to go with Katy Perry’s “Roar” -- a song about being a champion.
UFC 196 featured yet another fighter (Gian Villante) walking to the cage to Johnny Cash. However, the surprise of the event was that two combatants (Ilir Latifi and Siyar Bahadurzada) chose “Rocky”-themed tracks and neither of them went with “Eye of the Tiger.”
A partial rundown follows:
UFC 196 ‘McGregor vs. Diaz’ Walkout Songs
Conor McGregor: Sinead O’Conner “Foggy Dew” | The Game feat. Skrillex “El Chapo”
Nate Diaz: Tupac “Enemies with Me”
Holly Holm: Blair Douglas “The Landlord’s Walk”
Miesha Tate: Katy Perry “Roar”
Ilir Latifi: Bill Conti “Gonna Fly Now”
Gian Villante: Johnny Cash “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”
Corey Anderson: A$AP Ferg “New Level”
Tom Lawlor: Madonna “Like a Prayer”
Amanda Nunes: Ivete Sangalo “O Farol”
Siyar Bahadurzada: Survivor “Burning Heart”
Brandon Thatch: Pendulum “Slam”
Erick Silva: Jorge Quintero “300 Violin Orchestra”
Nordine Taleb: Wiz Khalifa feat. Iggy Azalea “Go Hard or Go Home”
Vitor Miranda: Remy Zero “Save Me”
Chas Skelly: Iggy Azalea “Fancy”
Jim Miller: Aerosmith “Sweet Emotion”
Diego Sanchez: James Brown feat. 2 Pac “Unchained”
Jason Saggo: Bus Stop “Kung Fu Fighting”
Justin Salas: Chris LeDoux “Hooked on an 8-Second Ride”
Julian Erosa: Andre Nickatina “Jungle”