Jake Gyllenhaal made a cameo UFC appearance whilst filming a fight scene for his upcoming Road House film.
Hollywood star Gyllenhaal, who is playing Jay Dalton in the remake of the 1989 film, had a mock fight at UFC 285 in Las Vegas as he faced MMA veteran turned actor Jay Hieron, who is playing Jack Harris. Gyllenhaal walked out to huge cheers from the Las Vegas crowd, who were at the T-Mobile Arena to watch Jon Jones face Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title.
Both Gyllenhaal and Hieron were given official introductions by Bruce Buffer and they shot an entertaining fight scene in between the actual UFC 285 fights. Gyllenhaal showed off his acting skills by taking some big punches from Hieron with his back against the fence, but returned fire with a huge three-punch combination that sent the MMA veteran stumbling backwards.
Gyllenhaal then pulled off an impressive flying knee that dropped Hieron before the Hollywood star followed up with ground-and-pound punches to 'win' the mock fight. Experienced referee Chris Tognoni was overseeing the fight and he tried desperately to pull Gylenhaal away from Hieron but the actor was desperately trying to land more punches. The actors filmed different fight sequences before they exited the cage, with the UFC 285 fights getting back underway shortly after.
UFC legend Conor McGregor gatecrashed the weigh-ins for Jones' title fight on Friday evening to promote the remake of Road House, which is he also starring in. Moments after Jones stepped on the scale, McGregor came out and announced Gyllenhaal would be having a mock weigh-in with Hieron for one of the scenes in Road House.
"Las Vegas! Who's ready for tomorrow night? We've got the biggest fight in Road House history, Harris versus Dalton UFC 222," McGregor said. "Everyone in this arena, you're about to be part of my movie that's coming out with myself and Jake Gyllenhaal. A Joe Silver production, make sure to cheer for the weigh-ins and let's go Las Vegas."
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Gyllenhaal then walked out to the scale and proceeded to 'slap' Hieron with UFC security and boss Dana White breaking up the 'scuffle' before the actors both conducted interviews with commentator Jon Anik. An official backdrop for their bout in the film could be seen behind them, as their fight was taking place at UFC 222 for the middleweight title.
Things seemingly didn't go as planned the first time around as Gyllenhaal and Hieron needed to re-shoot the scene. In a bizarre scene with fans already leaving the MGM Grand Garden Arena, McGregor unexpectedly came out on-stage again as he encouraged fans to stay in their seats whilst they re-shot the segment. "We're going to do one more take of this weigh-in if you don't mind," he said. "Guys get on your feet and let them know, it's an important movie and you're going to be in it. One more take!"
