Matthew McConaughey says wet dream led to fight in Africa

Matthew McConaughey shares another bizarre “wet dream” anecdote with her fans.

In his Lyrics of Livin’ newsletter Posted on Friday, January 9, McConaughey, 56, opened up about how a cheeky dream in 2001 led to him being involved in a WWE-style wrestling match in a small African village.

In the newsletter, McConaughey recalled sleeping in a hotel in Dublin, Ireland, in July 2001, when he had the dream.

“I had a wet dream,” he wrote. “I was floating downstream on my back in the Amazon River, enveloped in anacondas and pythons, surrounded by crocodiles, piranhas, and a few freshwater sharks. African tribesmen lined the ridge to my left, shoulder to shoulder, as far as the eye could see. I was at peace. Eleven frames. Eleven seconds. Then I came back. Again.”

THE Magic Mike The actor explained that this vision inspired him to take a trip to Africa, so he bought a ticket to “the immense continent that the wet dream was calling me to.”

“I bought a one-way ticket to Bamako, the capital of Mali, then hitchhiked nine hours to the port city of Mopti, where I met a guide named Issa who had a boat,” McConaughey continued.

In order to keep his true identity hidden, McConaughey recalls telling people he met that his name was David and that he was a writer and a boxer.

After word spread in a small African village that a stranger, claiming to be a boxing champion, was among them, McConaughey was approached by villagers who wanted to challenge him to a fight.

“Standing above me now was a much taller, more able-bodied shirtless man, carrying a burlap sack tied around his waist. He pointed at my chest, then at his, then at a large pit,” McConaughey wrote. “I looked at Issa. He smiled. ‘This is Michel. He’s the real champion wrestler of the village.’ My heart started racing. Then I heard my own voice whisper: Take on the challenge or you will forever regret not knowing. Leave your scent. I stood up, pointed to his chest, then mine, and walked toward the pit. The villagers fought.

McConaughey then described the violent battle between the men that took place during the first round of the fight.

“Face to face, we walked a few circles measuring each other’s strength before Michel picked me up and slammed me into him, my chest against his face, then slammed me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. One for him,” McConaughey wrote. “The crowd roared as he tried to pin me. I countered, whipped my hips, swung my leg over his head and kicked him back. One for me. For minutes we circled, flipped and crashed into the dirt. Neither of us could pin the other. The leader broke. I was bleeding, hyperventilating, knees and ankles torn up.”

The actor said the fight continued for another round as the two men clashed until there was a stalemate with both “locked in the dirt, completely exhausted, until the leader stepped in and called him out.”

Looking back later, McConaughey said that WWE fight failed “simply because I was chasing a wet dream. Literally.”

This is not the first time that Dallas Buyers Club star claimed wet dream changed the trajectory of his life.

In November 2025, McConaughey claimed in another edition of his newsletter that a cheeky dream had led him find love with your wife Camila Alves.

“I had met, spent time with, and seriously dated some wonderful women in my life, many of whom I am still friends with today, but ultimately they were just stops, not stays,” McConaughey wrote at the time. “In my mid-30s, I was looking for a lifelong lover, a best friend, and a future mother. I was looking for more, I was looking for that one, I was looking for that one.”

He added: “Then I had a wet dream.”