The Rock Producing Movie on Mark Kerr

Former WWE champion and current Hollywood star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has announced he and his production company, Seven Bucks Productions, will be making a film based on the life and career of Mark Kerr.

Johnson made the announcement to fans and media members in attendance at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden between the UFC 245 press conference and UFC 244 ceremonial weigh-ins.

“I think what’s interesting about Mark Kerr’s story is, yes, he achieved so much in his life. He was a ‘Smashing Machine,’ undefeated for a long time. But also, like all of us, and like a lot of these fighters, he battled these demons,” Johnson said. “These demons of addiction, these demons of mental health, these demons of getting out and the pressure of fighting in front of 20, 30, 40, 50,000 people and what that does to somebody.

“So, here’s a guy who has gone through it all and hit rock bottom. But the best part about Mark Kerr, like all of us in this room, and like these fighters, by the way, all these warriors, every day you get up, and you want to do a little bit better tomorrow than you did today.”

Kerr was an NCAA wrestling and national freestyle wrestling champion before starting his MMA career, which began in 1997 by winning the World Vale Tudo Championship. Later that year, Kerr won the heavyweight tournaments for both UFC 14 and UFC 15 before jumping over to PRIDE, where he participated in the 2000 Openweight Grand Prix.

Kerr, however, had to battle drug addiction and watched his MMA career take quite the downward turn in the 2000s.

Johnson says he will be playing the role of Kerr, and “The Smashing Machine” himself will be on tap to oversee the project.