The Eminem Curse!

[JayPettryMMA]

Dec. 2019 Update: Welcome to those of you reading this breakdown of the "Eminem Curse" from around the world. This is Sherdog.com, a worldwide forum made up of hundreds of thousands of people to talk all things combat sports. This particular thread studies what happens when UFC fighters walk out to songs from Eminem. The most recent update on 12/2/2019 for their records while being accompanied to the cage by Eminem is 86 wins, 98 losses, 3 draws and 2 no-contests, for a total of 189 recorded uses and a winning percentage of .455. The spreadsheet is continually updated, while this particular thread and the text below is not. Thanks for reading!



This is a culmination of my work with the UFC Entrance Music and Fight Result database that I have put together. I released a version of the Eminem Curse in 2012, but gathered a lot more data since then. As the thread was lost due to the migration, I cannot remember exactly when I posted my curse data but it was at least before July 2012. It all started with this...

Spoiler

UFC 148 - Tito Ortiz - Loss - Mosh
UFC on FX 4 - Joey Gambino - Loss - Cinderella Man
TUF 15 Finale - Jake Ellenberger - Loss - Till I Collapse
UFC 146 - Bigfoot Silva - Loss - Lose Yourself
UFC on Fox 3 - Mike Massenzio - Loss - Rabbit Run
UFC 142 - Mike Massenzio - Loss - Lose Yourself
UFC 140 - Tito Ortiz - Loss - Cinderella Man
UFC 135 - Cole Escovedo - Loss - Won't Back Down
UFC 134 - Brendan Schaub - Loss - Square Dance
UFC 133 - Tito Ortiz - Loss - Cinderella Man
UFC 132 - Tito Ortiz - WIN - Not Afraid
UFC 131 - Shane Carwin - Loss - Till I Collapse
UFC 128 - Brendan Schaub - WIN - Square Dance
UFC 121 - Tito Ortiz - Loss - Mosh
UFC 121 - Brendan Schaub - WIN - Square Dance
UFC 121 - Sam Stout - WIN - Go to Sleep
UFC 116 - Kurt Pellegrino - Loss - Not Afraid
UFC 115 - Chuck Liddell - Loss - Won't Back Down

To those of you unfamiliar, for years, there has been speculation that UFC fighters walkout out to an Eminem song have lost. I wanted to put that curse to the test.

There have been 189 recorded walkouts using Eminem songs so far, and this is the spreadsheet holding it all.

Currently, the Eminem Curse stands at 86-98-3 (2 NC), with fighters using Eminem songs winning 45.5% of their fights.

There has been one fight where two fighters used an Eminem song, and it was a very close split decision FOTN performance. They beat the brakes off of each other. It was Jeremy Stephens vs Sam Stout at UFC 133, where Stephens used the Drake song featuring Eminem called Forever, and Stout used Eminem's Go to Sleep.


These stats accurate as of September 2016
Eminem Curse Stats:

Most Common Eminem Tracks:
Till I Collapse – 17: 6 Wins, 10 Losses, 1 Draw
Lose Yourself – 15: 4 Wins, 11 Losses
Not Afraid – 13: 4 Wins, 9 Losses
Cinderella Man – 12: 3 Wins, 9 Losses
Go to Sleep – 10: 6 Wins, 4 Losses
Mosh - 9: 4 Wins, 4 Losses, 1 Draw


Fight Results:
13 KOs – 4 Wins, 9 Losses
27 TKOs – 10 Wins, 17 Losses
26 Submissions – 11 Wins, 15 Losses
3 Technical Submissions – 1 Win, 2 Losses
36 Unanimous Decisions – 21 Wins, 15 Losses
12 Split Decisions – 6 Wins, 6 Losses
2 Draws


Fighter Stats with Eminem:
Tito Ortiz: 5 Wins, 6 Losses, 1 Draw
Andrei Arlovski: 4 Wins, 3 Losses
Sam Stout: 4 Wins, 2 Losses
Robbie Lawler: 4 Wins, 1 Loss
Brendan Schaub: 3 Wins, 1 Loss
Jessica Andrade: 3 Wins, 2 Losses


Fighters vs Eminem Songs
Ben Saunders: 2-0 vs Eminem
Daron Cruickshank: 2-0 vs Eminem
Darren Elkins: 2-0 vs Eminem
Joe Lauzon: 0-3 vs Eminem
Ken Shamrock: 0-2 vs Eminem
Matt Brown: 0-2 vs Eminem


Other Bands vs Eminem Songs:
AC/DC: 3-1 vs Eminem
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: 2-1 vs Eminem
Pregador Luo: 2-2 vs Eminem
Ludacris: 2-0 vs Eminem
Thousand Foot Krutch: 0-3 vs Eminem

 

[Wizzlebiz]

I worked at a m&m factory but got fired for throwing out all the w's

Holy shit the curse is real.

 

[Rondas Pillow]

Damn you have a lot of time on your hands.

 

[wilKO]

Joe Lauzon needs to avoid Eminem at all costs.

Nice work. Imagine a fighter on the cover of UFC, coming off a win over Frank Mir walking to the octagon to Eminem.

 

[cgold21]

I was going to talk trash about how unoriginal all this is but it looks like you might of started the whole thing awhile back and apparently you did a shit ton of work.
So, umm...Well done, I'll be going now..

 

[chunglii]

Hell to the yes. I've waited my entire life for these stats.

Thank you.

 

[M Raid K]

So while all Eminem songs are barely under 50% record, the top 4 tracks definitely should be avoided (especially the Cinderella Man).

 

[Mr Wings]

"Go To Sleep" has the best record. If you have to walk out to an M and M song, that's the one.

 

[cOugAr_LIbRe_85]

I think Tito is responsible for about 95% of those losses

 

[Jackonfire]

I love this kind of thing. Thanks for putting in the work.

 

[Demogoblin]

what about the tank abbot curse ?every fighter tank beats end up well their career ends up going from mediocre to pure shit

tito beat wanderlei and his career never really went to shit he just got old

 

[NightwingBJJ]

Damn, Eminem is my favorite rapper too. Too bad he is trash now.

 

[Weidman]

Well, Eminem works with the devil...

You can only win through Christ ... and a toothpick.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

what about the tank abbot curse ?every fighter tank beats end up well their career ends up going from mediocre to pure shit

I can't get on board with that one.

Edit: I read it wrong, every fighter that Tank *beats*.

 

[Nightmaree]

dude...

 

[Myrddin Wild]

Bad ass stats bro!

 

[Bokelj]

 

[Queen B]

Im worried about the Floyd Mayweather curse.

Ronda called Floyd out - got murked
Conor called Floyd out - got murked
Ajamain called Floyd out - got murked

Now Dominick and Nate said they want to fight Floyd.

 

[Breaking]

People who like to think that they are more badass than they actually are like Eminem.

Anyone could have told you that.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Somebody has OCD