Did we get your attention with that ridiculous headline? Good.
Know what’s not ridiculous? Westin Wilson’s walkout song Saturday at UFC Fight Night 234.
The 34-year-old Wilson, who trains with Stephen Thompson in South Carolina, walked to a remix of “Pure Imagination,” which was written for the 1971 original theatrical release of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The remix was done specifically by Andrew P. Oliver for Wilson, whose WW initials just so happen to match up with one Mr. Willy Wonka.
We’re big fans of the original Wonka here at TBC. Big. HUGE, even. What can we say? We like it when our snozzberries taste like snozzberries. Although as much as we dig Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, that 2005 reboot can die in a fire. Horrible. Just horrible, that abomination. But we digress …
Anyway, hearing Oliver’s take on “Pure Imagination” was a legitimate thrill. We think you’ll dig it, too.
Wilson (16-9 MMA, 0-2 UFC) ran into a buzzsaw in promotional newcomer Jean Silva (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who was the heaviest favorite on the card. That’s no slight toward Wilson; Silva appeared to live up to his outsized promise. But before that got underway, Wilson had an epic walk to the cage.
That film, adapted from Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” has had a cult following for decades. The original song was sung by Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in the movie, and it’s been in the midst of a reprisal lately with use in the “Wonka” prequel/origin story movie musical starring Timothee Chalamet.
But Oliver’s remix somehow takes the song from one of playfulness and whimsy to one of purpose and urgency. It shouldn’t work that way, but it does.
Check out the track, as well as a separate piece with Wilson and Oliver talking about the genesis of the remix, in the videos below.
