Justin Bieber challenges Tom Cruise to UFC fight

  • Published
Justin BieberImage source, Getty Images

It is the contest Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fans never knew they wanted.

On Sunday, Justin Bieber challenged Tom Cruise to join him in the octagon (the UFC ring) to solve a problem so fiendishly difficult no-one had previously bothered to think of it.

If a 25-year-old pop star stands 5ft 9in (175cm) and sells 150 million records, attracting 106 million Twitter followers, why does he randomly decide to try to goad a 56-year-old movie star into fighting him?

Needless to say, a calculation so onerous quickly won the attention of the very best minds the social media platform had to offer.

Image source, @justinbieber

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor was quick to talk up the bout's prospects.

"Does Cruise have the sprouts to fight?" he inquired, simultaneously offering his own company's services in hosting the clash and then offering to fight actor Mark Wahlberg on the undercard.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post by Conor McGregor

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post by Conor McGregor

Meanwhile, Jake Marsh of comedy-sports podcast Pardon My Take provided the rundown on the potential fight.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post 2 by Jake Marsh

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post 2 by Jake Marsh

You might also be interested in:

Sprouts or no sprouts, many took the view that in this match-up it's Bieber who's the turkey.

Cruise famously performs his own stunts and the physicality exhibited in action films like the Mission Impossible series would give him the edge, many social media users argued.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post 3 by Jeff D... ark Phoenix

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post 3 by Jeff D... ark Phoenix

Others were just left confused by the whole thing.

Image source, @KlayeCreation

"At some point tonight Tom Cruise's agent will have to call Tom Cruise and tell him Justin Bieber has challenged him to a fight," another user tweeted.

"This is an actual conversation that will happen."

Tom Cruise is yet to respond.