The Walkmen: UFC 205 ‘Alvarez vs. McGregor’

Mike SloanNov 14, 2016

UFC 205 on Saturday in New York was memorable on a number of fronts. The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its debut at Madison Square Garden, and Conor McGregor became the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously. He did so by flattening Eddie Alvarez in the main event, but the second-round technical knockout that brought the Irishman the lightweight championship was not the only story. The musical tastes of the fighters involved added another layer to the historic event.

McGregor strolled confidently to the Octagon. The familiar tones of Sinead O’Connor’s “The Foggy Dew” were first on the menu before rap icon 50 Cent’s “I Get Money” took over. It all worked well for McGregor, who dropped Alvarez more than once with his crushing left hand and then ended it with a barrage of punches. He now holds UFC gold at 145 and 155 pounds.

Meanwhile, Tyron Woodley entered to This’sl’s “I Ain’t Turning Back” and escaped his co-headliner against Stephen Thompson with a majority draw, retaining his welterweight crown in the process. He nearly stopped Thompson in the fourth round but settled for the draw. Tenacious D’s “Wonderboy” brought Thompson to the cage.

Other standout tracks at UFC 205 included Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” (Karolina Kowalkiewicz), Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” (Tim Boetsch), Gang Starr’s “Full Clip” (Thiago Alves), Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” (Jim Miller) and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” (Katlyn Chookagian). A four-selection mix -- Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” and Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” were matched with P. Diddy’s “Coming Home” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” -- ushered in Chris Weidman’s arrival.

A rundown of the remaining tracks follows:

UFC 205 Walkout Songs
Eddie Alvarez: Puff Daddy feat. Notorious B.I.G. | “Victory”
Joanna Jedrzejczyk: Rena Gosc Gutek | “Przejmij Ster W Swoje Dlonie”
Yoel Romero: Juan Luis Guerra | “Solado”
Miesha Tate: Katy Perry | “Roar”
Raquel Pennington: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis | “Can’t Hold Us”
Frankie Edgar: Notorious B.I.G. | “Kick in the Door”
Jeremy Stephens: Tupac | “Ambitionz Az a Ridah”
Michael Johnson: Cam’Rom and Jay-Z | “Welcome to New York City”
Khabib Nurmagomedov: Direct Hit and Sabina Saidova | “Dagestan”
Rafael Natal: Francisco Manuel da Silva | “Brazilian National Anthem”
Vicente Luque: Tropkillaz | “Baby Baby”
Belal Muhammad: DMX | “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem”
Liz Carmouche: Benny Bennassi | “Satisfaction”