James Te-Huna showed his panache in and out of the octagon. (Photo courtesy of UFC)
Anderson Silva decked out as Michael Jackson? That’s old news. The UFC’s new dancing machine is New Zealander James Te-Huna, whose walk out to the octagon at UFC on Fuel TV 7 caught everyone by surprise. Sporting a black suit and dark glasses, Te-Huna and crew headed for center stage at London’s Wembley Arena in formation, waiting for the cue to bust into some moves they rehearsed to the tune “Men In Black,” the theme song of the feature film starring Will Smith. All in synch, Te-Huna and Co. put on a show and drew applause from the London audience even before the fight began.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBdW-s9rW7I
Just after the jig, Te-Huna didn’t have much to be happy about at the onset of his fight with Ryan Jimmo, the second feature bout on the main card. Jimmo, the owner of a seven-second knockout, the quickest in UFC history, didn’t want to hear about dancing, and tore into James, nearly ending the encounter. But in the rounds that followed, James recovered to win by unanimous decision.
Theatrics during the walk out are rare in the UFC these days. Entrances to music, dance and costumes were more common to see at the big Japanese MMA events. One fighter known to dress up and put on a song and dance at Pride FC was Akihiro Gono, who holds wins over Hector Lombard and Gegard Mousassi. Gono would wear wigs, trunks with colorful patters, and even cross dressed before a UFC fight.
Check out Gono’s highlight reel and share your thoughts with us!
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