UPDATE: Stephen Thompson has confirmed that his planned UFC Orlando walkout with Jack Black has been axed after a scheduling conflict on the Tenacious D frontman’s end.
Jack Black not walking out with Stephen Thompson.#UFCOrlando pic.twitter.com/FqleIgM1uX
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 30, 2022
It’s about time that Jack Black made a live contribution to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) walkout.
Since beginning his mixed martial arts (MMA) career in Feb. 2010, Thompson has had the luxury of owning perhaps the very best nickname-entrance song combination of all time. Every walk to the Octagon, Wonderboy by Tenacious D fittingly blares through the speakers, leaving fans ready with anticipation for Thompson’s karate-based striking game … It’s also just a fun song.
At UFC Orlando this weekend (Sat., Dec. 3, 2022), Thompson will finally have the legendary actor and singer himself, Black, walking him into battle against Kevin Holland in the evening’s headliner.
“Speaking of ‘Wonderboy,’ I got Jack Black gonna walk me out,” Thompson said on Chris Weidman’s Won’t Back Down podcast. “He may like lipsync it or something, but I don’t think he’s gonna sing it, no. He’s gonna walk me out.
“So, while I was there [with him], he’s like, ‘How cool would it be if I walked out to ‘Wonderboy’ as you walked out to your fight?’ That would be so sick, blah, blah, blah,” he continued. “Then like a few weeks ago he had messaged me on Instagram and was like, ‘Hey, man. Is it cool if I walked you out?’ I said, ‘Heck yeah, are you kidding me?’ He’s like, ‘I probably won’t sing it because that takes rehearsals and stuff.’ No worries, I would be happy if you were just at the fight not even walking me out.”
The upcoming match up with Holland marks Thompson’s first — and what will be his only — walk of 2022. “Wonderboy” aims to snap a two-fight losing streak after dropping back-to-back unanimous decisions to strong top-ranked Welterweight grapplers, Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Orlando fight card right here, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN/ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.
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