SUMMARY
- UFC 298, second PPV of 2024, is coming soon, with Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria headlining the lineup.
- El Matador and The Great have used a lot of songs in their past walkouts and have chosen new ones.
UFC 298 is only a few night’s sleep away. And fans are eager for UFC’s second pay-per-view of the year to get underway as soon as possible. UFC 298 will occur on February 17, 2024, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The main card will be headlined by Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria taking on the featherweight champion of the UFC, Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski.
The matchup between the two stalwarts promises to end as one of the most anticipated matchups in the featherweight division. On one hand, is the greatest featherweight in the history of the UFC. On the other is the 14-0-0 undefeated challenger. Apart from the fight for the featherweight championship, the card is stacked with many exciting matchups.
In the co-main event, Brazilian Paulo Costa makes his comeback after almost 18 months against top middleweight contender, and former UFC champion Robert Whittaker in a bit which promises to have an impact on the middleweight division’s future. While Ian Garry takes on Geoff Neal in the welterweight bout on the main card.
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Another pivotal matchup is the bantamweight bout between former 2-division champion Henry Cejudo and the Georgian Merab Dvalishvili. It could go down as Henry Cejudo’s last UFC fight. On top of this, the fight may well decide the course of the bantamweight division. Let’s take a look at the walkout music of some of the fighters who will be soon fighting at UFC 298.
Which songs have Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria walked out to before?
The Australian champ, Alexander Volkanovski has been in the UFC for over 6 years now. In his early fights, his walkout music was a violin cover of the “Game of Thrones” theme song by Jason Yang and Roger Lima. He used that theme in his notable victories over Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, and more. But after becoming a champ, Volkanovski’s walkout music changed.
Since his first title bout against Max Holloway up until his last fight against Islam Makhachev, the featherweight champ has been walking out to a song called “Down Under” by the famous Aussie band “Men at Work”. Meanwhile, the Spaniard challenger has been in the UFC since only 2020. In the 4 years gone by Ilia has amassed 6 UFC wins.
In his debut against Youssef Zalal, he walked out to “Remix” by Yazbeguri while in his fight against Damon Jackson, he used “MIB” by Myke Towers. Topuria used “Fronteamos Porque Podemos” by De La Ghetto in his fights against Ryan Hall and Bryce Mitchell and walked out to “Una Palabra” by Anuel AA in his fight against Jai Herbert.
In his most recent fight against Josh Emmett, El Matador walked out to ‘Love Tonight’ by Shouse (Vintage Culture & Kiko Franco Remix). He is expected to use the same music in his fight against Volkanovski. But he could very well surprise everyone with a special tune for his possible ‘big’ night.
Which songs have Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker, Ian Garry, and other UFC 298 fighters walked out to before?
Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa has been a part of the UFC since 2017 and boasts a UFC record of 6-2. Borrachinha has used various tracks to walk out in the past, some of which include “2026” by Lagum in his fight against Hendricks, “How Deep Is Your Love” by Calvin Harris & Disciples against Uriah Hall, and “Divisa de Fogo” by Grupo Fogo no Pe in his fight against Adesanya.
In his most recent fight against Luke Rockhold, Costa walked out to “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” by DMX. His opponent, Robert Whittaker meanwhile has been with the UFC for over a decade. In his time at the promotion, his favorite walkout music has been “Can’t Be Touched” by Roy Jones Jr. which he has used on many occasions, some of them include, his fights against Du Plessis, Darren Till, Derek Brunson, etc.
In his fight against Stephen Thompson, he used “Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC. He used “Ke Sanh” by Cold Chisel in his fight against Adesanya. Ian Garry who’ll be taking on Geoff Neal at UFC 298 used “Take Me to Church” by Hozier in his last fight. His opponent Geoff Neal has only ever used 2 walkout tracks, “Don’t Push Me” by 50 Cent until UFC 269 and “Hypnosis” by Sleep Token ever since.