Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has appeared in several movies now. But in his latest film, he had something to say about this big actor.
‘Vai Cavalo’ played a protagonist’s fellow inmate in the 2018 action film Kickboxer: Retaliation, the seventh film of the popular Kickboxer series. Werdum was featured along with several famous names in the combat sports including UFC vet Roy Nelson and boxing legend Mike Tyson.
Werdum recalled something that left him uneasy regarding the movie lead – Jean-Claude Van Damme. In the movie, the Belgian actor played Durand, a muay thai master.
During an appearance on the Inteligencia Ltda. podcast, Werdum recalled that ‘JCVD’ was a nice person, but has a massive ego. He also accused him of intentionally kicking a fellow actor on the set, leaving the actor badly injured.
“There was a scene where I was helping Van Damme to train this boy. I was Van Damme’s sidekick. There was a scene where we had to blindfold the guy. It was a real blindfold, it really covered the eyes and he’d have to fight blindfolded, right? Van Damme kicked this boy in the belly [so hard] that you have no idea. It passed through the boy. He kicked.”
“I was right next to him. I know when it’s real and when it’s not… He slashed through the boy with the shoe. The boy cringed and started to sweat, bro. He was sweating cold, he started to sweat… He’s a nice guy, kind of grumpy but he’s full of ego. Full of ego.” [Translation courtesy – Brazilian MMA Legends]
Despite respecting Van Damme’s skills as a martial artist, Werdum doesn’t sit well with Van Damme intentionally hurt a fellow actor. He further stated that if Van Damme kicked him during the shoot, he would’ve “knocked him out” right there.
“I was already thinking, if had he done that to me I would have just knocked Van Damme out right there… I thought, ‘If he does this to me, I’ll step on his head.’”
Fortunately for the ‘Bloodsport’ star, he was sane enough to not intentionally kick the man much bigger than him, or things will get pretty ugly.