What would your reaction be if you met pop culture sensation Sydney Sweeney? Most of us might freeze for a moment—or five—before managing to say a word to the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star. But not Kyle Forgeard of the Nelk Boys. He managed to hold a full conversation with her—well, over a video call. But hey, it’s Sydney Sweeney! Just being in her presence (albeit virtually) is enough to make most people faint. The highlight? The American actress even revealed her favorite UFC fighter and expressed her thoughts on the sport.

Sydney Sweeney is known within the MMA community because of her presence at Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo’s fight in Newark at UFC 288 in 2023. In addition to that she is playing the role of legendary Christy Martin in his biography set to release soon. The Nelk Boys were partying in Ireland on Saint Patrick’s Day with Conor McGregor when they ran into Sweeney’s cousin, and they actually got her on FaceTime for a quick chat!

As Sweeney picked the call, Forgeard greeted her and asked the actress about her top three MMA fighters under the UFC banner, “What’s up, Sydney? How are you? Sydney, we wanna know—who is your favorite UFC fighter? Your top three of all time? We’ve seen you’ve been at fights.” Responding to the question, Sweeney emphasized that she has yet to familiarize herself with the game to make her pick, “I have been at fights. Ahh, dude, I haven’t been to that many fights. I need to go more.”

Forgeard further asked the actress about the one fighter she looks up to the most, to which Sweeney emphasized that she looks up to Ronda Rousey, “I’ve always been a fan of Ronda. I actually got to hang out with Ronda and go to lunch with her. It was f—ing crazy.”  When Forgeard remarked that Rousey was instrumental in bringing women’s MMA into the spotlight, Sweeney agreed, “really did”.

Ronda Rousey truly changed the dynamics of the game during her UFC career. Dana White wasn’t initially supportive of women’s MMA, but Rousey became the face of the UFC and proved him wrong. Rousey dominated women’s MMA for years till she was defeated by Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. At the end of her UFC career, the former champ held the record of 12-2. After her UFC endeavor, ‘Rowdy’ transitioned to WWE, and then she took retirement from all forms of combat sports and sports entertainment back in 2023.

Taking inspiration from Rousey, Sweeney will be working on her next film about boxing champ Christy Martin. And when critics chose to berate her

Sydney Sweeney shuts down body-shamers after viral film pics

Sydney Sweeney will be playing the role of legendary boxing champ Christy Martin in an upcoming biopic that is set to hit the box office this year. For her role as the boxing legend, Sweeney has undergone an immense transformation that has completely changed her physique to an extent that it’s difficult to recognize her. This transformation seems to have caused immense online criticism from some fans.

After facing harsh body-shaming comments and doubts from the trolls, the Madame Web star shared a compilation of the criticism on her social media, pairing them with clips from her rigorous training regimen to highlight her dedication and silence the critics. The actress has been doing her best to do justice to Christy Martin’s story.

Taking to her Instagram, Sweeney added, “Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman — a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring. Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honored to step into her shoes to share her powerful story with you all. More to come soon.” 

The producers have yet to release the date of the release, but we can expect it to drop off this summer. What are your thoughts about her physical transformation for her upcoming film? State your thoughts in the comments below.