Long gone are the days when WWE wrestlers turned into movie stars. Now it’s MMA’s turn. In recent years the sport has gained quite a lot of popularity and that has helped some of its fighters break into the movie industry. It’s not like Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez can handle all the action roles in Hollywood. They need backup from time to time and these MMA fighters are more than happy to lighten their load. Here are 4 MMA fighters turned movie stars to look out for on the silver screen:
Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson
If you can beat Chuck Liddell twice you can do anything. And by anything I also mean taking over for Mr. T in ‘The A-Team’ reboot. The only thing he’s afraid of in the film is of flying. His character probably predicted the movie’s imminent crash upon its release. The film may not have done well at the box office, but Jackson still seems to be sticking it out in Hollywood. He has four films in the pipeline, so let’s see where that takes him. If those don’t work out he still has a multi-million dollar TNA deal to fall back on.
Randy Couture
Randy Couture has pretty much held every title in UFC. He has had the most title reigns in UFC history and he is one of two fighters to hold two championship titles in different divisions simultaneously. As if that wasn’t enough he is also the only fighter to win a championship title after becoming a UFC Hall of Famer. With such an impressive resume it is no wonder that Sylvester Stallone recruited him in ‘The Expendables’. He’s done three expendables film and a fourth one has been announced. He also has many cameos to his name.
Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey is arguably the best female fighter in UFC at the moment. She remains undefeated and no one on the horizon seems strong enough to overwhelm her. Riding on her success she has landed roles in three major movie franchises, namely ‘The Expendables’, ‘Fast & Furious 7’ & ‘Entourage’. I have a funny feeling that we’ll get to see her beat up Turtle in the Entourage film. Rousey hopes to be the female version of ‘The Rock’ in Hollywood. Well, she definitely has the build for it. Now time will tell if she has the talent.
Gina Carano
Gina Carano has become the face of women’s MMA. She was around even before UFC had a women’s division. During her professional fighting career she was undefeated, until her loss to Cristiane Santos. After that, she shifted her focus towards acting. That was a wise decision on her part, because she ended up as the lead in Steven Soderbergh’s film Haywire. She has also appeared in the sixth installment of the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise. We’ll soon see her in the film adaptation of the comic book series ‘Avengelyne’. I think both MMA fans and comic book nerds are looking forward to that one.
These MMA fighters have transcended their fighting careers to become successful movie stars. As the sport progresses we’ll see more names join this list.
