Chael Sonnen on Ronda Rousey in Road House remake: 'I happen to think she can pull it off'

There aren't too many action movie fans that don't share the same love and affinity for the film "Road House."

The 1989 film starring the late Patrick Swayze as James Dalton, a bouncer in a small Missouri town with a mysterious past hired to clean up an overrun bar called the "Double Deuce",  has become a cult classic. The movie was not a box-office success upon release, but it gained popularity on home video, and later cable television, which cemented its strong following.

Dalton takes care of business, but eventually bumps heads with corrupt businessman Brad Wesley, played by Ben Gazarra and bar fights, burning buildings and bodies begin to pile up. Before long a romance heats up with Kelly Lynch's character, Dr. Elizabeth Clay, whom he meets in the emergency room after getting slashed with a knife.

The film is being remade, and it will look much differently than the first one.

That's because The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women's bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey will be starring in the lead role for the "Road House" reboot, which was announced this past September. Fans and media reacted with skepticism as to why a cult classic like "Road House" would even be attempted to be re-imagined.

But as much as any actor would be watched with a raised brow at trying to fill Swayze's shoes as the bad ass "cooler," who killed a man in Memphis with his bare hands, a female taking the reigns in the remake will be looked at with even more scrutiny.

The undefeated champion, who will be defending her title against No. 7-ranked contender Holly Holm at UFC 193 on Saturday (November 14, 2015) in Melbourne, Australia, is quite confident she can do it justice. She has become a burgeoning action movie star while she's not dispatching her opponents in record time in the Octagon and has scored roles in "Expendables 3," "Furious 7," and "Entourage."

She sought out the "Road House" remake, which will be written and directed by Nick Cassavettes, who was at the helm for "Alpha Dog," and "The Notebook."

"I always loved it because I've always been obsessed with martial arts movies and I grew up watching Westerns with my dad and I thought it was the perfect hybrid between a Western and a martial arts film," Rousey told FoxSports.com. "I'm going to do the best that I can do and that's the best that I can do, but I am really confident that this is a project that everybody that loved the original and Swayze's whole family could be proud of it and enjoy."

Another "Road House" fan, retired UFC fighter and ESPN MMA analyst, Chael Sonnen, agrees that Rousey will have her work cut out for her. (For Sonnen's full preview of the UFC 193 main event, click here.)

"That is a tough role Michael," Sonnen told MMAMania. "That is a tough role. Did you see where Ronda spoke out about it and said 'Oh man, if this movie sucks than everybody is going to hate me because it's such a cult classic."

Remakes are the norm nowadays and many a memorable film have been sullied by an unnecessary modernized version of an indelible favorite. And elements of those movies get tinkered with too, like Rousey taking the lead role that was once played by Swayze.

Sonnen has seen many a remake failure like the rest of the movie buffs out there, and he is curious like most, to see if the undefeated UFC champion can pull off the role of Dalton.

"I've seen directors go in those directions and usually they fall on their face," said Sonnen, who hosts the "You're Welcome" podcast on PodcastOne.com and is the color commentator for World Series of Fighting (WSOF).

"If you remember the guy that was trying to be forward thinking and he is putting on a television show and it's about the presidency and it's a woman president and the world was just not ready for that. Now you are talking about a women bouncer. I don't know man. I don't know if I'm ready for that. It's going to be very interesting because I agree with you, Road House is such a classic and Patrick Swayze will forever be associated with Road House."

As hard as it will be to convince the fans that she can fill the shoes of Swayze 26 years later, Sonnen thinks Rousey can be one of the very few to make a remake of a film a success.

"I happen to think she can pull it off. I really do, but I don't want to be one of those progressive, left-leaning nut heads that can't see through the trees, but I'm thinking on this one that she is going to do it."