“Holy Capitalism, Batman”: Dana White and UFC Get Trashed Over Allegedly Handing Over Walkout Music to WWE’s Def Rebel

Dana White’s presence at WrestleMania 41 last week had fans hoping that the UFC boss would be mesmerised enough to put some more theatrics into his own events. Unfortunately, it seems that the UFC boss has learnt the wrong lesson, or at least that’s what the UFC community feels.

While the UFC has yet to officially confirm it, the White-led promotion is apparently in talks with the band Def Rebel. Rebel is best known for having taken over WWE superstars’ theme songs/entrance music since 2019.

Now, the WWE has had some iconic walkouts in the past, from the Undertaker’s gong to Stone Cold’s glass shatter. They have also collaborated with the likes of ‘Motorhead’ and ‘Living Color’ to provide memorable walkouts for their superstars. Unfortunately, by consensus, Rebel has not been up to the mark.

While they have provided some awesome tracks for Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, the overwhelming notion has labelled their music generic, repetitive, and oftentimes, without passion. And since the rumors suggest that the UFC is headed in a similar direction, fans are letting the brass know they are not on board.

“Holy Capitalism, Batman“, said a sorely disappointed fan.

Many UFC fighters currently use original songs that the UFC licenses from the production labels or the artists. Sometimes, artists also customise special tracks for certain fighters. However, fans now claim that the promotion is moving away from this practice as a means to cut costs.

Another Twitter user dove in to claim that the promotion’s next steps would be worse. “Next: UFC will stop having venues in Arenas and hold them exclusively at the APEX“, he said.

“‘Insert fighter’s name’ before a bad AI tune“, joked another fan, trying to provide a synopsis for Rebel’s music.

Some WWE fans also jumped in, trying to console UFC fans. “Oh, UFC fans, you’re about to find out the pain that’s Def Rebel.‘

This fan joked about how Dustin Poirier will be done dirty for his last fight ever and said, “Can’t wait to hear Dustin come out to basic ass music for his retirement fight instead of The Boss one last time”

While the UFC has not made anything official yet, claims of cost-cutting have long been associated with the promotion, especially since the pandemic.

TKO wants more Apex Fights

UFC’s Apex events have been widely criticized for their presentation over the years. While hosting fights in the homegrown arena made sense due to strict restrictions and a lack of live audience during the pandemic, the promotion’s insistence on making it a regular for fight nights hasn’t been well received.

Why? Well, firstly, the Apex is a poor representation of the biggest MMA promotion in the world. It houses very few people and takes away from the spectacle and the feel of a roaring live audience.

However, despite the complaints, it doesn’t seem that the UFC it its parent company TKO, plans on moving away from the arena.

Mark Shapiro, President and COO of TKO Group Holdings, spoke during a conference in March earlier this year and claimed not to have seen any difference between Apex events and a live audience at big arenas.