Legendary UFC coach accuses Keanu Reeves of stealing his technique in Jon Wick

Keanu Reeves is in hot water with one of the most accomplished MMA coaches in UFC history.

The coach in question Firas Zahabi, who runs things at Tristar in Montreal. Zahabi’s main claim to fame is coaching former two-division UFC champion and bona fide MMA legend Georges St-Pierre throughout his Hall of Fame career. That, and inventing a technique Keanu Reeves used in one of the films in the Jon Wick series, apparently.

Zahabi hurled his accusation at Reeves in a video posted to his YouTube channel. He claimed the popular Hollywood star stole a move called the “web guard” during a fight scene.

“I’m like jumping upside down and I’m grabbing guys and I’m rolling them over,” Zahabi said of the technique (transcribed by MMA Mania). “It was a great move, it’s called the web guard. I used to call it the web guard. I used to rush people punching and kicking and then whenever they would grab a hold of me, if they grabbed me with an underhook, I would jump web guard. If I grab them with an underhook, I could also do it, so it didn’t matter to me, which is what I loved. As soon as we tied up, I could get the fight to the ground.”

Firas Zahabi on Keanu Reeves: ‘I must insist that I collect from him’

Zahabi went on to claim that he actually stopped using the technique in question because it was too dangerous. He then took things a step further by demanding compensation from Reeves — though it’s hard to imagine he is serious about any of this.

“I put this move out of circulation,” Zahabi stated. “But then a man by the name of Keanu Reeves, the man actually dared to rip me off. Now, I’m used to the white man stealing from me, but if he’s a fellow Lebanese, that’s the problem. Now that I know he’s a fellow Lebanese, I must insist that I collect from him. When the white man steals from me, I’m not so upset. I expect it! But a fellow Lebanese? This cannot go unpunished. He jumps web guard in the movie. Long story short, Keanu, you owe me massari.”

As MMA Mania pointed out, Zahabi is way off base on this one. Maybe he invented the so-called “web guard,” and maybe that technique ended up in a Jon Wick movie. However, Reeves does not choreograph the fight scenes in the film series. That would be the job of Chad Stahelski, who had his lone MMA fight in the Shooto ring way back in 1993, when Zahabi had only just reached his teenage years. For all we know, he invented the move before Zahabi ever set foot on the mats.