Jake Gyllenhaal channels the late Patrick Swayze in a remake of “Road House,” but the new version takes a detour to the UFC octagon. Cameras were out to capture a staged fight featuring Gyllenhaal’s character amid bouts of a real UFC event in Las Vegas on Saturday. (Watch the videos below.)
In reviving Swayze’s bar bouncer who tried to keep the peace but couldn’t resist kicking ass, Gyllenhaal traded blows in a scene with former UFC fighter Jay Hieron.
The scripted battle featured Gyllenhaal’s character leveling Hieron with a flying knee.
It’s unclear whether the Zen-like mien of Swayze’s Dalton will make it into the reimagined movie, but we know his chiseled physique will. Gyllenhaal looked absolutely shredded in another go-round as a combat-sport athlete. Remember his boxer in 2015′s “Southpaw”?
Gyllenhaal also had a tense weigh-in scene, in which he trash-talks and strikes his opponent, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I can’t even believe I trained six weeks for this shit, to fight this piece of shit,” Gyllenhaal says in the staged altercation. “Just gimme the belt now. Come on, motherfucker, let’s go!”
He also took in the love of the crowd as his character entered the octagon.
UFC great Conor McGregor makes his acting debut in the Amazon Prime Video movie, which does not have a release date yet.
But it does 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 photos of the cinematic slugfest, and a moment in the crowd with Gyllenhaal and McGregor watching the real action:
Chris Unger via Getty Images
