UFC star Jorge Masvidal reacts to revelation that he has inspired new Mortal Kombat role
Jorge Masvidal has had something to say about being used as an inspiration for a big-screen character.
MMA stars' influence has long-crossed the Octagon's limits and seeped into the world of movies and TV shows. It is now UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal's turn to be the inspiration behind a character on the silver screen.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor Lewis Tan, who plays an MMA fighter in the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot movie, revealed that he drew inspiration for his character from "Gamebred" Jorge Masvidal.
Masvidal, who has also featured on the cover of EA Sports' UFC 4 game with Israel Adesanya, responded to the revelation.
"Street Jesus" reacted to a tweet that Damon Martin had shared, saying that it was an honor to be used as an inspiration for actors. He added that he was excited about the movie as well.
The original tweet consisted of a screengrab of the EW interview by actor Lewis Tan. In it, he talked about emulating Jorge Masvidal for his role as Cole Young on Mortal Kombat.
There is a scene where Young backs up against the cage in a near-perfect replica of how Masvidal famously did before his five-second knockout of Ben Askren.
"Thatโs what Jorge Masvidal did before he knocked out Ben Askren in [five] seconds and set the whole MMA community on fire," Lewis Tan said in the interview.
Here is the reaction of Jorge Masvidal:
Jorge Masvidal interacts with Lewis Tan on Twitter
The actor Lewis Tan, in turn, has also responded to Jorge Masvidal. "Gamebred" has replied back in an exchange of mutual respect between the screen and the cage.
The movie will release in April this year in theatres, as well as on HBO Max for streaming. Watch the trailer of the movie below, which now has more than one million views on YouTube.
In a fun turn of events, some MMA fans confused a certain cast member of the movie to be former UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.
In the opening scenes of the trailer, actor Mehcad Brooks appears to be the Super Soldier, Jax Briggs. Many thought he was Jon Jones for the resemblance in their looks. .