Liam Neeson Slams UFC and 'Little Leprechaun' Conor McGregor: 'He Gives Ireland a Bad Name'
The actor didn't hold back when asked about the mixed martial arts sport.
ShanonG
Liam Neeson is not a fan of UFC. In fact, he hates it, and don't get him started on Conor McGregor.
The 70-year-old movie star didn't hold back during his interview with Men's Health while discussing his upcoming film Marlowe. In that interview, Neeson also discussed his role in Star Wars and whether he would appear in a Star Wars spinoff (he had a one-word answer to that question), but it's his disdain for UFC that's drawing headlines.
It's unclear how the topic of conversation came up, though Neeson's no stranger to throwing punishing haymakers in some of his best films. But something that will always seem to remain a mystery to him is the so-called art in mixed martial arts.
"UFC I can't stand," he tells the health magazine. "That to me is like a bar fight. I know the practitioners are like, ‘No, you’re wrong -- the months of training we do ...’ Why don’t you just grab a beer bottle and hit the other guy over the head? That’s the next stage of the UFC. I hate it. ... That little leprechaun Conor McGregor, he gives Ireland a bad name. I know he’s fit, and I admire him for that. But I can’t take it."
No word yet on how McGregor's taking the jab (pun intended) but the UFC star at least has something to look forward to when he returns to the octagon soon. It was announced Saturday that McGregor will face off against Michael Chandler. No date or location has yet been set but, according to ESPN, McGregor will also coach on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter docuseries.
In any event, Neeson also dished about his time on Star Wars, recalling his fighting scene in The Phantom Menace alongside Ewan McGregor.
"The lightsaber fight in The Phantom Menace. Ewan McGregor and myself. I’ll tell you what we did the first day we had to take out lightsabers," he said. "And Ewan and I did this at the exact same time. We pulled out lightsabers out and went 'dzhhhhhhewww.' George Lucas said, ‘You don’t have to do the sound effects; we put those in later.’ We felt [stupid]."
Asked whether he'd be in for a Star Wars spinoff, Neeson answered with a declarative "No" and left it at that.
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