UFC retires ‘Gladiator’ intro
Roar Rookie UFC 143 will treat fight fans to a new pay-per-view intro. UFC President Dana White has recently announced that the UFC will be retiring it’s trademark ‘Gladiator’ intro and will be debuting its new intro, titled ‘Evolution’ at the upcoming pay-per-view to be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
For years, the UFC’s famous Gladiator welcomed fans to the pay-per-view spectacle as he rubbed sand between his hands and brandished his sword between preview clips to the tune of Stemm’s ‘Face the Pain’.
According to media reports, the new intro will keep the song.
‘Evolution’ will feature footage from 18 different fights, which include all seven current champions.
The new opening was put together by Digital Domain, a visual effects studio founded by Oscar-winning director and producer James Cameron. The company has previously worked on Hollywood blockbusters such as Real Steel and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
According to White, “Probably the most important thing about this new piece is it pays tribute to all the guys who have helped build this company and build this sport over the last 10 years during the Zuffa era.”
UFC 143 will be televised on Aussie shores Sunday morning, featuring Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz in the main event.
Like the original UFC intro (complete with the Mr. Clean-esque fighter on the logo) and the sleek, stylised production of the PRIDE cards, the ‘Gladiator’ intro joins the increasingly long list of items that fight fans can throw into the nostalgia bucket.
While the nu-metal sounds of Stemm reeks of the early-2000’s era from which it came from, their UFC-licensed songs still elicits a ‘fight time!’ reaction from fans. I
t will be hard to get used to the new intro (especially in such a visual-heavy sport) but the change is long overdue.
Personally, I thought they would have made the change back at the landmark UFC 100 in 2009. As is always the case with the Zuffa leadership, White is hell-bent on taking the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts forward into new directions. All for the better, I say.
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February 3rd 2012 @ 11:28pm
Sam Brown said | February 3rd 2012 @ 11:28pm | Report comment
I have to say it is a good move forward. Most mainstream sports don’t have such an abstract intro but get straight to the stars of the show. Hopefully they will continue to update it as MMA evolves and new stars are made.
February 4th 2012 @ 12:44pm
MR.KLAC said | February 4th 2012 @ 12:44pm | Report comment
so now the gladiator is gone oh well good luck on his future endeavors.
wonder how this “evolution” will be of ufc?
February 8th 2012 @ 12:34pm
K2 said | February 8th 2012 @ 12:34pm | Report comment
I liked the new intro. On the other hand, I REALLY HATE Fox’s “battling robots” intro. C’mon Fox, there’s plenty of stock footage out there (new UFC intro in point) to use without having to rely on stupid robots. Who gives a crap about ‘Real Steel’ when we have REAL FIGHTERS.