‘They’re so violent,’ Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley not the biggest fan of MMA fighting

Famed actress Daisy Ridley said watching MMA was a struggle ahead of her new role in 'Cleaner'.

UFC, IGN

'Star Wars' actress Daisy Ridley gave MMA a shot while prepping for her latest film.

Ridley landed the lead role in Cleaner - a new action movie that stars Ridley as a soldier-turned-window-cleaner fighting off an extremist group holding hostages at the top of a skyscraper. The highrise thriller is a bit of a mouthful, and includes fight scenes with a view as the movie releases this weekend.

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Ridley Watched MMA For Fight Scenes - She Didn't Like It

Preparing for the role, the 29-year-old Ridley says she watched MMA fights on TV to simulate how real and raw close-quarter combat can be.

"I tried to watch MMA fights," Ridley told UPI (h/t: Bloody Elbow). "Honestly, they're so violent I struggled to watch that many of them."

MMA fans have a certain palette for violence, watching anything from slick submissions to highlight-reel knockouts inside of a small cage. Days ago, we saw Jared Cannonier melt Gregory Rodrigues with punches. The other week, Sean Strickland had his nose broken by Dricus du Plessis.

STRICKLAND'S NOSE 😳 #UFC312 pic.twitter.com/CHWTkdJqmJ

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 9, 2025

Learning The Ropes

The sport may not be the Londoner's cup of tea. but Ridley takes what she can from MMA and its elements for her latest role as a crime-stopping window cleaner.

"That level of aggression and that level of being very in your body, that was really the thing that was driving me physically for her," Ridley said. "One of the fights particularly is in a really contained area. So trying to figure out how to realistically battle someone while quite restricted physically was a challenge."

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Cleaner releases in theaters, this Friday, Feb. 21. Daisy Ridley is an English actress, most known for her role as 'Rey' in the Star Wars movie franchise.

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