Justin Bieber Walks Back His Proposition To Fight Tom Cruise

Justin Bieber has clarified that his tweet challenging actor Tom Cruise to a fight was just as legitimate as we thought. As in, he told TMZ he was just "messing around."

"The story is, I (saw) an interview with him, and it was just on my mind," he explained, later adding, "I don't know why I thought about... It was just a random tweet. I do that stuff sometimes."

He also added that if he and Cruise did fight, Cruise would likely "whoop [his] ass."

Hmmmm, only one way to find out!

As someone whose personal New Year's resolution was to get more into sports, I've been keeping a close eye on the latest news involving balls, fields, and baskets. And because not all celebrity sports content can be Beyoncé-related basketball drama, the world has a new sports-related feud to talk about — and it involves Justin Bieber and Tom Cruise.

Yes, the latest in celebrity Mad Libs involves Bieber, 25, and Cruise, 56. Seemingly out of the blue, Bieber tweeted a very clear message of attack against Cruise on Sunday night: "I wanna challenge Tom Cruise to fight in the Octagon. Tom if you don't take this fight your scared and you will never live it down. Who is willing to put on the fight?" He goes on to ask Dana White, President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, if he would like to host. Cruise, who only uses his Instagram to promote this movies, did not respond to the challenge, nor will he likely ever. (Refinery29 has reached out to Cruise and Bieber's reps for comment.)

Instead, a slew of celebs, like Cole Sprouse and Mario Lopez, have responded to the extremely macho tweet (sarcasm) to point out Bieber's lack of grammar skills.

Again, I am trying to get into sports, which means I have no clue that Bieber is talking about. So here are some questions I had about the tweet, and a few new things I learned, to fill in the blanks.listene to a track by the Biebz. (If he did listen to pop music, I feel like Cruise would prefer Selena Gomez.)

A: The Octagon is an impressive ring in which men and women fight. It is 750 square foot and apparently safe.

A: At five-foot nine, Bieber is taller.. Cruise is this tall.

A: Probably. Bieber's famous enough for Cruise to have heard of his name before, but I am sure Cruise has never purposefully listened to "What Do U Mean?" In fact, I bet Cruise doesn't listen to music, so he probably hasn't even accidentally listened to a track by the Biebz. (If he did listen to pop music, I feel like Cruise would prefer Selena Gomez.)

A: Ever since coming back as Tom Cruise 2.0, to mixed reviews, I think he might be "scared" of the virality of being a celebrity in 2019, but he definitely isn't scared of Bieber. (Is anyone?)

A: Conor McGregor, a well-known and outspoken Irish fighter (currently #3 in the official UFC lightweight rankings), offered to host the festivities. He specifically mentions his company, McGregor Sports and Entertainment, which suffered substantial financial loss in late 2018. It's possible he's ready for a major reboot, and has Bieber acting as a sort of representative.

A: Until Bieber Soothsayer Scooter Braun shares an explanation for what's going on: I have no idea.

A: No to this, yes to sports because sometimes they give us moments like this.