Oftentimes, when an athlete crosses over to superstardom, they try their hand at acting. Michael Jordan set the bar with Space Jam back in the mid-1990s, and ever since, athletes from all sports have attempted to follow suit. Mixed martial artists are no different, and seem to have even more reasons to find a way […]
Oftentimes, when an athlete crosses over to superstardom, they try their hand at acting. Michael Jordan set the bar with Space Jam back in the mid-1990s, and ever since, athletes from all sports have attempted to follow suit.
Mixed martial artists are no different, and seem to have even more reasons to find a way out from getting punched in the face for a living.
With the UFC now owned by Hollywood powerhouse WME-IMG, fighters now have much easier access to the film industry, as well as the resources necessary to get work as actors or actresses in movies.
Unfortunately, most fighters are terrible actors, so we here at Lowkick MMA have dug through the archives to give you the ten worst movies starring or featuring MMA fighters!
10. Randy Couture – The Expendables
Couture was already essentially retired from MMA when he made the plunge into Hollywood, and given the star-studded cast, it’s hard to rate this crossover as harshly as we will with others.
Couture brought some real tough guy accolades to the table, but his acting was wooden and a bit forced, and even though the franchise spawned a bunch of sequels as well as a ton of money, it wasn’t because of Couture. Big names like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Statham we’re clearly the a-side, bringing in much of the drawing power.
Couture still managed to land a few acting gigs after The Expendables, including several of the franchise’s sequels.
UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic may be preparing for his title fight rematch against former champ Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC 211 this May, but he still appears to have time to film some action-packed scenes with Hollywood superstar Bruce Willis. Miocic has a part in Willis’ upcoming flick “Acts of
UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic may be preparing for his title fight rematch against former champ Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC 211 this May, but he still appears to have time to film some action-packed scenes with Hollywood superstar Bruce Willis.
Miocic has a part in Willis’ upcoming flick “Acts of Violence”, a scene of which was posted online on Saturday showing the UFC slugger body-slamming Willis’ stunt double. Miocic had posted a behind-the-scenes video of the sequence as well as a photo of him and Bruce Willis to Miocic and his wife’s Instagram pages.
The film, which will be Miocic’s big screen debut, involves vigilante brothers who infiltrate a human trafficking ring, and is set to release later this year.
The Cleveland native is currently riding an impressive four-fight win streak, with all those victories coming by way of stoppage. “Acts of Violence” began filming this past week in downtown Cleveland, right near Miocic’s backyard.
Could we see more of the heavyweight champion on the silver screen? Check out the video below and see Miocic’s acting chops for yourself!
(Moments later, a tricked-out Mitsubishi Lancer crashed through the window, and Ronda armbarred it. Cut to tasteful sex scene. / Photo via FlicksandBits)
According to Variety, Rousey has landed a gig as one of the female leads in the upcoming Entourage movie, which starts filming in mid-March. [Ed. note: Please be Turtle’s girlfriend…please be Turtle’s girlfriend…] After that, Rousey is attached to star in a Warner Bros. adaptation of The Athena Project, which is about “a top secret, all-female Delta Force counter-terrorism team…sent in to hunt and kill a master terrorist after a bombing in Rome kills 20 Americans. Trouble ensues once the team realizes there’s more at play than a simple bombing.” Man, isn’t there always?
Though Warner Bros. is still negotiating rights to produce The Athena Project, which currently lacks a script, Variety‘s sources say that Rousey “fell in love with the book and also quickly clicked with author [Brad] Thor, attaching herself to the project before it even had a studio involved.” And here’s one more line from Variety’s report that was interesting:
(Moments later, a tricked-out Mitsubishi Lancer crashed through the window, and Ronda armbarred it. Cut to tasteful sex scene. / Photo via FlicksandBits)
According to Variety, Rousey has landed a gig as one of the female leads in the upcoming Entourage movie, which starts filming in mid-March. [Ed. note: Please be Turtle’s girlfriend…please be Turtle’s girlfriend…] After that, Rousey is attached to star in a Warner Bros. adaptation of The Athena Project, which is about “a top secret, all-female Delta Force counter-terrorism team…sent in to hunt and kill a master terrorist after a bombing in Rome kills 20 Americans. Trouble ensues once the team realizes there’s more at play than a simple bombing.” Man, isn’t there always?
Though Warner Bros. is still negotiating rights to produce The Athena Project, which currently lacks a script, Variety‘s sources say that Rousey “fell in love with the book and also quickly clicked with author [Brad] Thor, attaching herself to the project before it even had a studio involved.” And here’s one more line from Variety’s report that was interesting:
“While the ‘Entourage’ gig gives Rousey a recognizable property through which to get noticed for her acting, ‘The Athena Project’ could give her a possible franchise and perhaps the chance to become the female action star Hollywood is lacking.”
Huh. The fact that Hollywood lacks a female action star should give Rousey pause, considering that WMMA superstar Gina Carano left MMA for Hollywood herself, and was thought to have breakout potential. And it’s going alright for Gina, relatively speaking. For example, she just had a thrilling performance in some animated GIFs taken from a FOX TV show. In other words, Carano’s acting crossover is still a work in progress…but I’d take minor TV roles over getting punched in the face by Cris Cyborg all day, every day.
Rousey will make her next title defense against Sara McMann at UFC 170, 15 days from now. By all accounts, her training camp is going really well.
Like the great thespian Ronda Rousey, UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones also plans on transitioning to acting after he retires from mixed martial arts. In fact, he’s already got his career arc planned out, and it’s a familiar one:
“I’d like to model my acting career on Dwayne Johnson, the way he came out of [WWE] and started off tough guy roles and then moved over to doing ‘Tooth Fairy,'” Jones told MMAjunkie.com during an appearance at the UFC’s “World Tour” in Los Angeles. “That’s when you really saw that he could act, and he’s the one I admire and respect a lot, so I know I’d love to model my acting career after (him)…
“As an entertainer, I think acting is one of the highest levels you can get, and right now, I’m doing pretty well in my field, which is the martial arts world. To branch out a little bit and get my feet wet there and maybe prepare myself for a career after this career, I think it’s all part of the plan.”
Just like being a famous action star doesn’t mean you can beat Randy Couture in a real-life death-match, being a real-life badass doesn’t mean you can successfully pretend to be one on screen. The Rock’s film career was made possible by a rare combination of charisma and talent. And keep in mind that Dwayne Johnson had been “acting” in the WWE for five years and already had a well-known fictional persona by the time he started appearing in films. He wasn’t just a tough guy — he was a likable tough guy who knew how to inhabit a character and express himself verbally. You know, like Chael Sonnen.
Jones’s new post-UFC plan was encouraged by some feedback he received while attending some meetings at Hollywood studios at the beginning of the summer. As he explains:
Like the great thespian Ronda Rousey, UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones also plans on transitioning to acting after he retires from mixed martial arts. In fact, he’s already got his career arc planned out, and it’s a familiar one:
“I’d like to model my acting career on Dwayne Johnson, the way he came out of [WWE] and started off tough guy roles and then moved over to doing ‘Tooth Fairy,’” Jones told MMAjunkie.com during an appearance at the UFC’s “World Tour” in Los Angeles. “That’s when you really saw that he could act, and he’s the one I admire and respect a lot, so I know I’d love to model my acting career after (him)…
“As an entertainer, I think acting is one of the highest levels you can get, and right now, I’m doing pretty well in my field, which is the martial arts world. To branch out a little bit and get my feet wet there and maybe prepare myself for a career after this career, I think it’s all part of the plan.”
Just like being a famous action star doesn’t mean you can beat Randy Couture in a real-life death-match, being a real-life badass doesn’t mean you can successfully pretend to be one on screen. The Rock’s film career was made possible by a rare combination of charisma and talent. And keep in mind that Dwayne Johnson had been “acting” in the WWE for five years and already had a well-known fictional persona by the time he started appearing in films. He wasn’t just a tough guy — he was a likable tough guy who knew how to inhabit a character and express himself verbally. You know, like Chael Sonnen.
Jones’s new post-UFC plan was encouraged by some feedback he received while attending some meetings at Hollywood studios at the beginning of the summer. As he explains:
“Those meetings went great,” Jones said. “I realize that they see that I have a little bit of character on me, and with the right training, I could possibly be in some movies in the future…I’ll definitely take a lot of classes,” he said.
So what is it with UFC fighters and acting? Somebody as motivated and intelligent as Jon Jones could get into virtually any career he wants after fighting. (Hell, he’d make a great DEA agent.) Here’s the irony of the situation: Jon Jones is one of the most dangerous men on the planet, and yet it’s hard to imagine him as a credible hero or a credible villain. I wouldn’t even cast him as a gay best friend in a Katherine Heigl movie.
And Jon, the friggin’ Tooth Fairy is the Rock film that made you recognize his talent? This family-friendly bullshit? I guess somebody‘s never seen Be Cool…
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones looks like he has plenty of quality fights left in him with an 18-1 professional record at 26 years of age, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t considered what he’d like to do after he calls it a career. In an interview with MMA Junkie, “Bones” said he’d like […]
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones looks like he has plenty of quality fights left in him with an 18-1 professional record at 26 years of age, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t considered what he’d like to do after he calls it a career. In an interview with MMA Junkie, “Bones” said he’d like […]
(Seagal, seen here donning various items of clothing he had stolen from the cubbies of children he cared so dearly for.)
Somewhere between Hard to Kill and Cockpuncher, Steven Seagal experienced a Christ-like resurrection of his career using only the power of audacity and the “free member for life” coupon to Old Country Buffet he had secured through a sponsorship deal in 1989. Seemingly overnight, the aging sensei emerged from a bargain bin of straight-to-DVD cop films (which to be fair, is a game he’ll never truly leave behind) and gut-bustingly awful musical endeavors to become the personal mentor of the pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world, inventor of the front kick, and a “respected” member of the law enforcement community. Like the Phoenix who rose out of the Arby’s wrappers of its former self, Seagal was able to successfully come back from the dead and reconnect with semi-fame. And he is not letting go this time.
Take the events of this past weekend, for instance, in which Seagal was able to use said fame to join forces with the Maricopa County Police Department and assemble a posse (his words, not mine) of school shooting response specialists. Because if anyone knows how to react to a real life crisis situation, it’s the guy who has made a career terribly pretending to react to fake ones.
After the jump: A video snippet of this hilariously misguided endeavor, featuring paintball warfare, some misplaced picketing, and a surprising lack of firing range goggles*.
(Seagal, seen here donning various items of clothing he had stolen from the cubbies of children he cared so dearly for.)
Somewhere between Hard to Kill and Cockpuncher, Steven Seagal experienced a Christ-like resurrection of his career using only the power of audacity and the “free member for life” coupon to Old Country Buffet he had secured through a sponsorship deal in 1989. Seemingly overnight, the aging sensei emerged from a bargain bin of straight-to-DVD cop films (which to be fair, is a game he’ll never truly leave behind) and gut-bustingly awful musical endeavors to become the personal mentor of the pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world, inventor of the front kick, and a “respected” member of the law enforcement community. Like the Phoenix who rose out of the Arby’s wrappers of its former self, Seagal was able to successfully come back from the dead and reconnect with semi-fame. And he is not letting go this time.
Take the events of this past weekend, for instance, in which Seagal was able to use said fame to join forces with the Maricopa County Police Department and assemble a posse (his words, not mine) of school shooting response specialists. Because if anyone knows how to react to a real life crisis situation, it’s the guy who has made a career terribly pretending to react to fake ones.
After the jump: A video snippet of this hilariously misguided endeavor, featuring paintball warfare, some misplaced picketing, and a surprising lack of firing range goggles*.
“You’re not doctors and lawyers, you’re cops. When you yell at somebody ‘Get down on the ground!’ they gotta do it. If they don’t do it, you better make them comply. Quick. For every second that goes by you could be losing children.”
Yep, that was the kind of profound advice actual men of the law received from a guy who played one on TV. And before you try to bring Seagal’s credentials into play, know this: Steven Seagal is as much a cop as Shaquille O’Neal is one, and attempting to argue this point will only make you look like an asshole. You don’t see Dennis Leary patrolling the streets of NYC and ordering on-scene fireman to “Throw more water on the fire, because water kills fire,” nor will you ever hear about the time Sean Astin served as defensive coordinator for Notre Dame, because that shit is supposed to work the other way around.
The Maricopa County Police Department’s decision to involve Seagal in such a controversial affair would be even more baffling if you didn’t first realize that they have all but given the guy the keys to their armory and a judge-approved “Fuck you, I’m Steven Seagal” pass to do whatever the hell he wants. This was the same police department that agreed to participate in the Segal-starring reality show afterbirth known as Lawman, and the same department that once allowed Seagal to bust up a cockfight with a tank that in turn led to just one arrest and the deaths of 150 chickens. If only we were making that up.
What does any of this have to do with MMA? Nothing, but if Sensei Seagal is going to continuously find ways to forcibly penetrate my psyche, than you Taters are going to share the brunt of it with me.
*Seriously, can someone explain to me why Seagal wears firing range goggles to an MMA fight, a movie premier, or a return trip to the OCB, but when an actual occasion in which they might be appropriate arrives, he dons a scarf? It’s like he’s laughing at us while laughing with us.
