MMA Twitter’s Tovaun Anthony Discuses His “Who Ya Got?” Predictions

By
Joe McDonagh
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While not a fighter, Tovaun Anthony has become an interesting part of the MMA world.

If follow him on Twitter, you will frequently see folks begging for him to drop his predictions during fight week. Anthony, a musician, and MMA fan just like you and I, gives predictions like no other — pretty much literally. Because he does them in musical form, rapping his predictions ahead of events.

Exhibit A: Anthony’s UFC 257 picks.

The “Who ya Got” videos have become a cherished part of fight week, thanks to a unique blend of fight fan and musical talent. Which all started years ago, with Anthony having an interest in expanding his own knowledge of martial arts.

“What got me into MMA is, a friend of mine I went to high school with, he was training and competing on the regional circuit around here. He invited me to a couple of fight, I couldn’t make it at the time,” Anthony recalled, speaking to Cageside Press recently. “Then when I finally did make it to a card he was on, I was just blown away by the people I saw there. I had always been into martial arts since I was a kid, I did Taekwondo when I was younger, but I didn’t really stick with it, because most of my friends were into basketball. But I really wanted to get back into it. I had other friends that boxed and did other things as well.”

Of course, his parents didn’t want him to get hit, “for some odd reason.” But after attending that first event, Anthony was blown away by guys “doing movie style stuff.” His reaction? “I don’t know if I want to do it, but I want to learn it!” And so he did. “To this day I’m still doing Muay Thai mainly. Grappling, I know a bit of wrestling, I’ve got to keep my promise to my coaches and jump into a jiu-jitsu class  or two one day.”

All that, and watching events from Bellator, UFC, plus kickboxing and boxing, “is what made me interested in doing anything as far as just being a fan. I like talking to other people in general about ‘okay, who do you think is going to win this?’ or ‘which fighter do you like?'”

Because he was a musician as well, his approach to doing something creative with the sport had him wanting to “do something music-wise,” Anthony continued. “But it’s not like I’m going to be making music for any of these companies any time soon. I just had the idea that, maybe I should do predictions a musical way.”

The only problem, Anthony wasn’t really a rapper. “I have friends that are rappers. I’m like, ‘do I do this?’ I thought it was going to be corny, I thought people were going to troll me for days on the internet. But they didn’t, everybody welcomed it. At the end of the day, we’re just fans, and when we see somebody do something creative with the thing we all like, you support it.”

If Anthony wasn’t a rapper to start, he certainly did his homework. And he is one now. Anthony even put out a longer-form track for UFC 257.

Be sure to check out our full interview with the talented Tovaun Anthony above!