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The Smashing Machine is beefing up its cast.

Bellator MMA champion Ryan Bader, who also won Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter back in late 2008, is headed to Vancouver to star alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for what is expected to be a 2025 release. Hollywood leading ladies Emily Blunt and Lyndsey Gavin are also attached to the project, directed by Benny Safdie.

Johnson is currently training MMA to prepare for the role.

“Putting the MMA game on pause for a bit as I head to Vancouver for about three months,” Bader wrote on Instagram. “Excited to be a part of an amazing project by Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine. Giving ode to a couple legends of the sport, Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman, the highs and the lows that come with this crazy ass sport.”

Bader, 40, knows a thing or two about the highs and the lows.

If you’ve seen the 2002 documentary directed by John Hyams, also titled The Smashing Machine, there’s probably no reason to watch a Hollywood actor with no fighting experience try to recreate the compelling and often times unsettling story of Mark Kerr.

But hey, Johnson really wanted to be an MMA fighter and loves his vanity projects.

The Smashing Machine is beefing up its cast.

Bellator MMA champion Ryan Bader, who also won Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter back in late 2008, is headed to Vancouver to star alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for what is expected to be a 2025 release. Hollywood leading ladies Emily Blunt and Lyndsey Gavin are also attached to the project, directed by Benny Safdie.

Johnson is currently training MMA to prepare for the role.

“Putting the MMA game on pause for a bit as I head to Vancouver for about three months,” Bader wrote on Instagram. “Excited to be a part of an amazing project by Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine. Giving ode to a couple legends of the sport, Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman, the highs and the lows that come with this crazy ass sport.”

Bader, 40, knows a thing or two about the highs and the lows.

If you’ve seen the 2002 documentary directed by John Hyams, also titled The Smashing Machine, there’s probably no reason to watch a Hollywood actor with no fighting experience try to recreate the compelling and often times unsettling story of Mark Kerr.

But hey, Johnson really wanted to be an MMA fighter and loves his vanity projects.

Colby Covington tried his damndest to talk his way into a Dustin Poirier fight.

Unfortunately for Covington, his former training partner out of American Top Team — where “Chaos” is no longer welcome — is too busy chasing the 155-pound title to waste his time with nonsensical matchups in heavier weight classes.

Perhaps former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will take the bait.

“I want legacy fights,” Covington told Submission Radio. “I think a guy like Charles Oliveira makes sense. He was out there saying the other day that he wants to come up to welterweight. So, I’m the king of f*cking Brazil, man. Everybody knows I run that f*cking country. So, all the women love me. All the men in Brazil want to be like me. So, Charles Oliveira, you want this fight? You want to really come up to welterweight? You want big fights? Let’s see if you’re about it or if you just talk or you want to come up here and walk the walk. Let’s see.”

All the women in Brazil … except Polyana Viana.

Oliveira, 34, expressed interest in dipping his toe into the 170-pound waters following his close decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan at the UFC 300 pay-per-view (PPV) event last month in Las Vegas, which ruled him out of the lightweight title chase for the foreseeable future.

And challenging “Do Bronx” helps Covington, 36, avoid undefeated welterweight phenom Ian Garry.

“We’re very comparable in size,” Covington continued. “But skill? No, that’s where we’re not comparable. That’s where I just beat [Oliveira] everywhere. I’m a better jiu-jitsu artist than him. I’m a better striker. I’m just a better all-around mixed martial artist. So, that’s why I just don’t think he actually comes up and follows through with his word. I think he’s all talk and he’s not really going to do it. So, I match up well with him and I’d love to entertain that fight. That’s what I want. That’s what I love, you know, fighting former champions. That’s all I’ve done in the last like seven or eight years. So, that’s all I want to keep doing. And I want to leave my legacy in this company as the first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

Fighting someone who is “not comparable” and gets beaten “everywhere” is not how you build a legacy. In addition, there are no ballots for the UFC Hall of Fame because there are no voters. UFC is a brand, not a sport, so top executives pick and choose candidates at their discretion.

Even the ones who’ve been banned for life.

“The ship’s sailed, and I’ll fight whoever I want to fight, when I want to fight,” Covington said when asked about fighting Garry. “I don’t need to fight on anybody’s card. I had my main event pay-per-view. I don’t need anybody. I’m already a superstar. I have the biggest, most famous people person alive, and the most famous people around in my corner. So, I don’t need to be on anybody’s time. I’m on my time, and I’m gonna come back healthy, a hundred percent, and we’ll see where the business is at in the next month or two, and who’s the biggest and best fight I can give for the company.”

A timeline for Covington’s return has yet to be revealed.

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