The bonuses for UFC 271 for FOTN (Fight of the Night) and POTN (Performance of the Night) have all been decided upon and awarded accordingly however there are some of us who passionately believe that the choice of walkout music a fighter uses to level up with or entertain the masses with, deserves its own bonus category, or at the very least more media attention. After all, a walkout song has the power to set the tone for the evening and to even influence the evening’s events (alcohol sales included). So with that being said, here are our staff’s picks for the top 3 fighters who had the best walkout songs for UFC 271.

Tyrone Briggs first began to garner national attention in 2014 when his song ‘Spartacus’ was featured on Sirius XM’s Shade 45 by DJ Kay Slay & Tony Touch. Unable to ignore the vicious delivery and songwriting ability of this young artist, hip-hop tastemakers like XXL, Hot 97, and Who’ Next began featuring his music regularly. In 2016 Briggs released his 1st EP “Victorious” which contained 5 songs all focused on topics such as success, motivation, and overcoming challenges while still maintaining creativity, and having multiple jobs. Many of those songs ended up being licensed by major brands and TV networks including Reebok, Air Jordan, FOX, ESPN Monday Night Football, CBS Sports, MTV, the UFC, and many more.

A good walkout song sets a vibe for the room it’s played in. And that’s exactly what happened when Fat Pat’s “Tops Drop” began to blare over the speakers at Houston’s Toyota Center for UFC 271, as Derrick Lewis, Houston’s hometown hero, walked out to defend his ranking against, rising contender, Tai Tuivasa. The best way to describe this song to someone is an old-school summertime anthem. If you put your hand over your heart while the song plays, you’ll feel your chest vibrate. Anyone who follows Derrick online or knows him in the gym knows that this song is his jam, so when it began to chirp out of the loudspeakers at UFCC 271, it immediately alerted 15,000+ of Derrick Lewis’s closest friends and followers, that he was among them and about to do what they came to see him do: fight wildly until someone gets knocked out. Lewis has some of the best mood-enhancing music on the card that night. The whole place lit up when this song came on and had, 15,000+ MMA fans on their feet cheering. Although we now know that Derrick suffered a devastating knockout loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 271, if this fight was judged by its walkout music alone, it would be a razor-thin close bout, which brings us to our final pick…

Tai Tuvasa has been known to have the best troll music in the UFC. What do we mean by troll music? Music that he knows is going to get the crowd reacting and talking about his walkout music long after his fights have ended. This is exactly what Tuivasa has managed to do in his past few walkouts. He chooses the most overtly non-alpha fight music he can find, like “Barbie Girl” in his last fight and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” by Cindy Lauper-the iconic 80’s pop song for teenage girls. It’s kind of hysterical to see a heavyweight New Zealander warrior like Tai dancing his way out to the Octagon to songs like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”.  You can’t help but wonder why a man whose fights are so brutal, vibes to ’90s teenage girl pop music on his way to the Octagon. Maybe it’s because Tuivasa is just an entertaining, charismatic, and fun-loving individual who doesn’t take life too seriously? So far everything we’ve seen about “Bam Bam” would indicate that’s a big reason why he walks out to over-the-top 80’s teenage girl pop songs. That and he just really likes the song, too!

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