In a reworking of “Road House,” Jake Gyllenhaal evokes the late Patrick Swayze, but the new version takes a diversion to the UFC octagon. On Saturday, cameras were out to catch a staged fight starring Gyllenhaal’s character in the midst of a real UFC event in Las Vegas. (Watch the videos below.)
In a sequence with veteran UFC fighter Jay Hieron, Gyllenhaal resurrected Swayze’s bar bouncer who tried to keep the peace but couldn’t stop kicking ass.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s character leveled Hieron with a flying knee in the planned duel.
It’s unknown whether Swayze’s Dalton’s Zen-like demeanor will be retained in the reinvented film, but his chiseled physique will. Jake Gyllenhaal looked very ripped in another role as a combat athlete. Remember his boxer in 2015′s “Southpaw”?
According to the Los Angeles Times, Jake Gyllenhaal also had a dramatic weigh-in sequence in which he trash-talks and hits his opponent.
“I can’t even believe I trained six weeks for this shit, to fight this piece of shit,” Jake Gyllenhaal says in the staged altercation. “Just gimme the belt now. Come on, motherfucker, let’s go!”
As his persona entered the octagon, he also absorbed the crowd’s affection.
Jake Gyllenhaal Tweet
Enter: Jake Gyllenhaal ⏳ #UFC285 pic.twitter.com/sNViCnzT0J
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 5, 2023
Conor McGregor makes his acting debut in the Amazon Prime Video film, which has yet to be released.
It does, however, have expectations.
“‘Road House’ is a home run for us,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said last year. “Not only is it a nod to fans of the original, but it is also a big, fun, broad audience movie.”
Check out photographs from the film Slugfest, as well as a moment in the audience with Gyllenhaal and McGregor watching the real action:
