Liam Neeson and Conor McGregor.
Shutterstock (2)Not a fan. Liam Neeson is a boxing fan with strong feelings about the UFC and Conor McGregor — and did not hold them back.
“UFC, I can not stand,” said taken actor, 70, said in an interview for the Men’s Health series “Don’t Read Comments,” released on Thursday, February 2. “This, to me, is like a bar fight. And I know all the practitioners say, ‘No, you’re wrong! Moth the training we’re doing!’ Why don’t you take a beer bottle and hit somebody in the head? That’s the next level of the UFC. I f–King hates that.
He responded to a fan question that listed Neeson’s boxing history and wondered if Neeson liked the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Conor McGregor. The Irish native was an amateur boxer from age 9 to 17, but he clearly didn’t care about the organization or the athletes. He went on to defeat the 34-year-old mixed martial arts champion.
“Conor McGregor’s little leprechaun, oh please. He gave Ireland a bad name,” Neeson said. “I know he’s suitable, and I like him. But I can’t accept it.
The Oscar winner joked about McGregor finally confronting him. “The next time I arrived at Dublin airport, [he’ll say] ‘Neeson, I’ll f–king show you,’” the Batman Begins the star said.
Neeson has no plans to return to the ring. When asked if he would rather return to boxing shows or his job as a Guinness factory worker, he chose the latter. “I would say the Guinness Factory, actually,” he said. “Driving a forklift truck, yes. having a couple of beers there in the evening after you enter. Sorry, no packing, stop working. Clock out.”
The actor has also stayed away from action films. He said he has no interest in making Taken 4 or joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Neeson previously explained that he planned to turn down the stunt-heavy role. “There’s a few more that I’m going to do this year – hopefully, COVID allows us – there’s a couple in the pipeline and then I think that’ll be it,” he said. Entertainment Tonight in January 2021.
“I love doing it,” he added, explaining that the battle scenes had affected him. “I’d love to beat a guy half my age. … I’ve done one in Australia and I had a fight scene with a kid — really good, a sweet actor called Taylor — and halfway through the fight I looked up, I was breathing and it didn’t cost anyone a cent, and I said, ‘Taylor, how old are you?’ He said, ’25.’ I said, ‘This is the age of my oldest son!’”