While Justin Bieber has since changed his tune regarding his proposed battle with Tom Cruise inside the octagon, not everyone has given up on the idea. As it turns out, UFC head honcho Dana White confirmed that some talks did happen and the interest is there if the celebrities ever want to make it happen.
As TMZ had indicated before, William Morris co-CEO Ari Emanuel reached out to Bieber’s Manager, Scooter Braun, and White. The indication is that Bieber said he would absolutely fight Cruise if the Mission: Impossible actor agreed to do it.
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White later confirmed this report while speaking at Hashtag Sports 2019 Thursday. He indicated that he’d be all over the fight if both sides agreed to do it, later confirming to moderator Jason Gay that the TMZ report was indeed true.
“It is true,” White said. “As crazy as that sounds, that is true. โฆ I don’t want to use any names, but I was at home on a Sunday, and I got a call with two big guys on the phone. They were telling me this could possibly happen and this could be real. I’m like, there’s no way that this is really going to happen. But if it does, call me back. I’m in.”
According to MMAJunkie, White said that any potential fight between Bieber and Cruise would be a blockbuster, even if it isn’t too much of an actual athletic fight.
“Oh my God, it would be massive,” White said at the event. “It would be massive. Everybody laughed when we talked about this, so you’ve heard of it. Who wouldn’t watch that? Everybody would watch it. It’s a complete train wreck, and I love it, and I’m in. I’m in. I can’t even believe this is what we’re talking about right now.”
Bieber created this buzz after randomly posting a strange tweet challenging Cruise to a fight in the iconic UFC arena.
“I wanna challenge Tom Cruise to fight in the octagon,” the pop star wrote. “Tom if you don’t take this fight your (sic) and you will never live it down. Who is willing to put on the fight?”
Apart from White, UFC fighter Conor McGregor reached out on social media to say he was willing to promote it almost immediately after the initial post went viral.
“If Tom Cruise is man enough to accept this challenge, McGregor Sports and Entertainment will host the bout,” McGregor wrote on Twitter. “Does Cruise have the sprouts to fight, like he does in the movies?”
We can’t imagine Tom Cruise actually agreeing to fight Bieber at any point, but you never know to be honest. He may be one MMA film role away from actually deciding this would be good practice.
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