UFC heavyweight prospect Curtis Blaydes turned a lot of heads with his walkout music at UFC 225 against Alistair Overeem.
Blaydes chose the theme song for the famous late ’80s and early ’90s Mortal Kombat video game. In a recent interview on The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting) Blaydes explained that the theme simply gets him going, and it was the best theme available to him given the restrictions UFC has on music:
“It just, it gets me going,” Blaydes said. “And you know they (the UFC) have a lot of restrictions on [songs], especially rap music, so I was like what’s the best song I could use just instrumental-wise? I mean, it’s not just instrumental, but it’s predominantly instrumental. And I thought about it. That was the one. It gets me going.”
In regards to the game, Blaydes admits that he wasn’t the best at it but certainly played it enough for it to be an influence on him:
“I wasn’t the best at it, I’m not gonna lie,” Blaydes said. “But I played it enough.”
Currently, Blaydes doesn’t have any pans on changing his walkout tune. If the UFC ever decides to lift the ban on some of the songs they don’t allow fighters to walk out to, then maybe he’ll consider a swap:
“People will tell me all the time, ‘Oh, you should use this.’ I’m like, no, I haven’t heard anything better than Mortal Kombat under the current rules,” Blaydes said. “If they ever lift the rules on music, then maybe I would pick a different song. But currently, no.”
What are your thoughts on Blaydes’ Mortal Combat theme walkout selection? Have your say in the comments!
