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In order to be believable in the role of two-time UFC heavyweight tournament champion and Pride FC veteran Mark Kerr, “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson has begun participating in a mixed martial arts training camp.
The upcoming biopic called The Smashing Machine “is a drama based on the story of Mark Kerr, the legendary MMA fighter from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC at the peak of his career. He struggles with addiction, winning, love and friendship in the year 2000.”
Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions is behind the film which will also star Lyndsey Gavin and also rumored to feature The Rock’s Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt in some capacity.
“Day 1. MMA training camp. Preparing for ‘Smashing Machine,'” Dwayne Johnson wrote on Instagram alongside a video of him training.
“I’m learning daily and it’s been a very humbling, intense and motivating journey into this world of combat and becoming, Mark Kerr – the two-time @UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Champion.
“I’m a hard worker, but I realized that I’d have to work harder with this role than anything I’ve ever worked for in my life.
“This physicality is just one part of the larger journey, that is truly a team effort,” The Rock continued.
“Growing and grateful.
“Day 1.”
Interestingly, Mark Kerr’s last MMA fight occurred in 2009 when he was 40-years-old and he is being played by The Rock who is 52-years-old.
Kerr was a NCAA Division I wrestling champion and won gold and silver medals at the World Cup and silver at the Pan American Games before becoming a mixed martial artist.
He first competed with the UFC came in the heavyweight tournament at UFC 14, which he won by defeating Moti Horenstein and Dan Bobish.
Mark Kerr also won the UFC 15 Heavyweight tournament with wins over Greg Stott and Dwayne Cason, both inside of a minute.
He would never fight in the UFC again, but moved on to work with Pride Fighting Championships where he won his first five fights, but ended up with a record of just 6-4 with one no contest.
After Pride FC, Kerr would go on to win just two his final nine fights with lesser MMA events like the International Fight League, Cage Rage 20, C-3 Fights: Contenders, CCCF – Battle on the Border, and Xp3: The Proving Ground.
A 2002 HBO documentary, also titled The Smashing Machine, chronicled his early MMA success as well as his addiction to opiod pain-killers, much of which is expected to be feature in The Rock’s biopic.