Former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza has been a professional MMA fighter for seven years now and since her first ever fight, she has used the Metallica song “Harvester Of Sorrow” as her walkout theme.
However, the UFC recently notified her that the song can no longer be used, which has freaked her out a little bit.
“I am so bummed about that,” Esparza told MMA Junkie. “I think a lot of fighters have things that are kind of their rituals, and this is one of them for me. It’s a very important song to me. I’ve been walking out to it from my first (fight). They asked me, ‘Do you want the same song?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ Then I get a text a couple days later saying for legal reasons, nothing to do with the UFC, I can’t use it anymore. I’m freaking out like, ‘Oh my god, oh my god.’ I let the fans know, and I asked for their help. There’s so many songs and good music out there, but I just needed something that felt right. It’s a very important thing for me. It’s not like I pick something new every fight like, ‘Oh, whatever.’ This is something that’s very important, so I took a good amount of time to figure it out, and I got it.”
Esparza will be taking on Randa Markos this Sunday Night at UFC Fight Night 105, as part of the Fox Sports 1 portion of the preliminary card.
The former strawweight champion has been exploring other options on how to deal with losing her walkout theme.
“I’ve had people suggest (wearing headphones) to me but I’ve never walked out with headphones before,” Esparza said. “I don’t know how it would feel. I asked if I could come out with no song and maybe I could be listening to it (in my head). I think having one song blasting and listening to another song might be kind of weird. I don’t know. I guess it’s time for change, and I’m hoping it’s my new good luck song.”
UFC Fight Night 105 takes place on Sunday, February 19 from the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada with Derrick Lewis and Travis Browne headlining. Fightful will be providing live coverage for the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
