Kyle Watson Will Have Back Up From Five Finger Death Punch in Toronto

Kyle Watson

When Kyle Watson walks into the Rogers Centre in Toronto to face John Makdessi on Saturday night in Toronto, he may have more than a few of the fans against him seeing as he’s fighting a Canadian on his home soil.

But Watson will have a familiar sound to guide him to the Octagon and a fan in the crowd that will give him all the energy he needs as he gets ready to fight at UFC 129.

Watson will be entering his fight to the music of the heavy metal group Five Finger Death Punch, and lead guitarist Zoltan Bathory will be sitting cageside to watch the fight.

Being a huge fan of the band, Watson reached out to Bathory through Twitter and the two became fast friends. Bathory was already planning a trip to Toronto to work with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Royler Gracie and also take in the fights.

“(Zoltan’s) going to be at the fights. He’ll be there all week; he’s going to do some training,” Watson said recently. “We chit-chatted back and forth, and I think he said originally he wasn’t planning on showing up for the prelims. He said now that he knew I was fighting, he’d show up to watch.”

Five Finger Death Punch

Watson has used the Five Finger Death Punch track “The Bleeding” as his walkout song before, but now with the lead guitarist from the band sitting front and center for his fight, it will be even a little bit more inspirational on fight night.

“You better believe it,” Watson replied when asked if he’d be walking out to the Five Finger Death Punch tune. “I’m going to be using the same one as last time. I like the intro to ‘The Bleeding.’ I think it’s a cool walkout intro.”

Watson is hoping to find time between training and cutting weight to meet up with Bathory in Toronto. Bathory is a longtime mixed martial arts fan, has trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for several years, and has also competed in grappling tournaments in the past.

His band, Five Finger Death Punch, also seems to be a favorite among other mixed martial artists. UFC middleweight Brian Stann has commented on how much he likes using their music for his walk out songs, and others have followed suit.

Bathory, who was a recipient of the Golden God Award in 2010 for ‘Best Shredder,’ will be taking in all the action in Toronto and probably rooting for Watson in his fight against Makdessi.

Just don’t tell the Canadian Five Finger Death Punch fans.

Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.
Follow @DamonMartin on Twitter or e-mail Damon a question or comment.

Follow MMAWeekly.com on Twitter and Facebook.