Issue 055
October 2009
When the opening bars of the famous tune from ‘Rocky’ ring out through the arena, the lightweight draws upon the memories of his wrestling days to ‘rise up to the challenges of his rivals’.
How would you describe your taste in music?
I guess hip-hop and rap – they would be the two I would say, mainly.
What would be on your iPod if we turned it on right now?
That’s a tricky one. I think you would probably get a little bit of DMX or Bob Marley – they’re the two I’ve been listening to recently.
Do you listen to anything specific to psyche you up before training?
I don’t have anything really. I listen to all my music when I’m running and stuff like that. You’ve gotta keep it different to keep you motivated. ‘Eye of the Tiger’ is my song when I walk out and that’s the one song I listen to for motivation right before fights – that’s not rap or reggae, so maybe in answer to your first question I should have said rock!
Why ‘Eye of the Tiger’?
It actually has nothing to do with the Rocky films, it’s something that goes back to school. That was my wrestling team’s warm-up music in high school and ‘Eye of the Tiger’ is what we had playing as we warmed up.
I don’t consider myself a superstitious person but the first time I used the ‘Eye of the Tiger’ music was the first time I ever lost. I wanted to use it again to prove something to myself – and it’s kind of stuck as a determination thing ever since. I’ve been listening to those lyrics for a long time, it’s not really about the music.
What goes through your mind when you’re walking towards the Octagon?
It’s the culmination of everything that you have done to get ready for that fight. It’s the eight weeks or the 12 weeks of hell you’ve gone through, and you just reassure yourself that you have done everything to prepare yourself correctly for the fight. You remind yourself that you’ve run enough miles, that you’re in good-enough shape, that your mind is right – you put yourself in a place where you’re ready to do whatever you need to do for the next 15 minutes.
Does the music help you focus?
I try to remain really relaxed and keep my heart rate down, so music, crowd noises, even Bruce Buffer doesn’t really affect me! The one thing I do when I get to the ring is look around and pick out my family in the crowd, give them a quick wave so that I feel as relaxed as possible. We train to fight every day of our lives so it’s not like life or death or anything, it’s just a case of making sure you perform to your potential on the night.
Away from the Octagon, what would be the most recent CD you have bought?
I don’t really buy music. In the car I listen to the radio so I just listen to whatever the latest club jams are.
If you could go to one gig in your lifetime, who would you see?
That’s got to be Bob Marley back in the day. You can’t beat it.
And finally, is there any music on your iPod that you would be embarrassed of?
I wouldn’t be embarrassed, but I guess people wouldn’t expect me to listen to country. What you won’t find is any R ‘n B soft stuff or anything like that. My younger brother likes a bit of Alicia Keys if that’s what you’re looking for, but that’s not really me!
Tyson Griffin’s Top 5 tracks
1 ‘CYCLONE’
BABY BASH
2 ‘BUBBLE TOES’
JACK JOHNSON
3 ‘WHO THE FUCK IS THAT’
DOLLA
4 ‘IF I CAN’T’
50 CENT
5 ‘GIRLS DEM SUGAR’
BEENIE MAN
