Has 'Face the Pain' received its last ever play on a UFC PPV?
No one's ever willingly listened to 'Face the Pain' by Stemm.
If you're looking at that sentence like it has 10 heads, you may know the song better as the UFC PPV theme song.
For as long as we can remember, this Nu Metal 'banger' that wasn't even popular in its own era has provided the soundtrack to the marquee UFC events.
If your memory needs jogging, here it is in all its cringey glory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eUpf4f8LEU
Even someone who still wears outrageously baggy jeans and a backwards red baseball cap every day couldn't successfully argue that Face the Pain is a good song. Music is only subjective to a point. This tune serves as proof of this fact.
However, some fight fans have grown attached to the song out of nostalgia. It's hard to blame them considering it has been played before some of the greatest fights in the history of the sport.
At UFC 220 though, something noteworthy happened when the PPV portion kicked off. There was no sign of Face the Pain. For their first PPV event of 2018, the promotion switched things up.
To the people who despised the song, the silence was welcome.
https://twitter.com/lthomasnews/status/954912891429376000
https://twitter.com/safisaad/status/954912837142368258
https://twitter.com/WinfreeMMA/status/954912738089713664
https://twitter.com/CTudor88/status/954912630279495680
However, the folks who grew attached to it, and even the poor fools who actually enjoy the song, were left bitterly disappointed by its absence.
https://twitter.com/niallmcgrath4/status/954912582338523136
https://twitter.com/DownedOpponent/status/954914294768029696
https://twitter.com/MattParrino/status/954912734960869376
https://twitter.com/Drinkmaaan/status/954913189447155712
https://twitter.com/Jmartin96/status/954912502894219266
It will be interesting to see if the UFC keeps this up. Keep your ears open at UFC 221. If Face the Pain isn't played then, we may never hear it in the world's premier MMA promotion ever again.
This could be the end of an era.
