Conor McGregor’s UFC rivals appear to replace him in Road House 2 cast

The former UFC champion made his acting debut in 2024’s remake of the 1989 action film, starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal

A report suggests that numerous UFC stars have joined the cast of the upcoming Road House sequel, while Conor McGregor is not expected to return.

McGregor made his acting debut in the 2024 remake of the 1989 action film, with Jake Gyllenhaal starring in the recent Amazon Prime release, while Patrick Swayze was the lead in the original.

According to Deadline, various fighters have joined the cast of a planned sequel to the 2024 edition, including McGregor’s rivals Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler.

McGregor, 37, played the villainous Knox in 2024’s Road House, but Deadline reports that the former UFC champion is not expected to reprise his role.

Instead, Chandler and the recently-retired Poirier are due to be involved, along with fellow UFC stars Michael “Venom” Page, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and the retired Tyron Woodley, as well as kickboxing icon Rico Verhoeven.

Gyllenhaal is set to return as Elwood Dalton – a UFC fighter-turned-bouncer – and UFC alum Jay Hieron is also due to feature, having played a role in the 2024 release.

Conor McGregor and Jake Gyllenhaal at the ‘Road House’ New York premiere (Getty Images)

McGregor on screen as the villainous Knox

Prime Video’s Road House, which reportedly brought in 80m viewers in its first eight weeks on the platform, also featured UFC CEO Dana White, ring announcer Bruce Buffer, and commentator Jon Anik.

McGregor first fought Poirier in a 2014 featherweight bout, beating the American via knockout. However, the Irishman’s lightweight rematches with Poirier were ill fated in 2021. McGregor was knocked out by Poirier that January, before suffering a broken leg in their July clash. McGregor has not fought since.

He was due to face Chandler in June 2024, but a broken toe ruled out McGregor on two weeks’ notice, and the bout was never rearranged. McGregor is currently serving a UFC ban for three drug-test whereabouts failures, which date back to June 2024. He will be free to fight again from March 2026.

McGregor broke his leg during his July 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier (Getty Images)

Recently, McGregor said he was giving up on his bid to become president of Ireland, criticising the nation’s eligibility rules.

That political foray followed McGregor’s most-recent run-in with the law; last November, a civil-court jury found that he had sexually assaulted a woman in 2018. McGregor denies the allegations against him but lost an appeal against the verdict.