Justin Bieber backed down from his Tom Cruise UFC challenge: 'He'd whoop my ass'

AP Images

Tom Cruise (L) and Justin Bieber.

• Justin Bieber has backtracked from his UFC challenge.
• Bieber recently challenged Tom Cruise to a UFC fight in a bizarre tweet last weekend.
• The post went viral, attracted Conor McGregor's interest who said he'd fight Mark Wahlberg on the same night, but failed to win over UFC fighters who said Cruise would beat Bieber.
• Now Bieber has admitted it was just a "random tweet," adding: "Tom would whoop my ass."
• He probably realized he was cruising for a bruising.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Justin Bieber has backtracked rapidly from his UFC challenge after realizing he was probably cruising for a bruising.

Grammy award-winning singer Bieber tweeted Sunday that he wanted to fight Tom Cruise in a UFC Octagon, telling the Hollywood hardman he'd "never live it down" if he refused. Bieber even tagged the UFC president Dana White in the post, asking if he was willing to organize the event.

The June 10 tweet attracted 39,000 comments, 44,000 retweets, and 217,000 likes.

It even piqued the former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor's attention, who amped up his crusade against the minority UFC shareholder Mark Wahlberg, another tough guy actor, one the Irishman has frequently expressed a desire to beat up in exchange for his equity stake in the business.

Read more: Conor McGregor has challenged the 'actress' Mark Wahlberg to a fight because he wants his UFC shares

But Bieber has now backtracked, saying he was "just playing."

Bieber was asked Wednesday by TMZ whether the fight was real. He said "nah," adding: "It was just a random tweet. I'd have to get in shape. I think he'd be out of my weight class. He's got that dad strength."

Bieber, who once trained with Floyd Mayweather and even walked the unbeaten American to the ring for a fight, failed to win the backing of UFC athletes as hall of fame featherweight Urijah Faber said even though he's a Belieber, he'd give the edge to Cruise.

Read more: The 6 highest-paid fighters in 2019

Even Bieber gives the edge to Cruise. "I'm pretty sure Tom would whoop my ass in a fight."