I’m a former two-weight MMA world champion who fought Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson – now I’m in a movie with The Rock

Ryan Bader is taking a brief hiatus from MMA. 

The former UFC brawler and current Bellator Heavyweight Champion is stepping away from his day job to star in Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's upcoming biographical drama, The Smashing Machine.

This week, Bader let fans know that he was jumping on board the project which will will begin filming later this year.

“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, Mark Coleman. The highs and the lows that come with this crazy ass sport.”

UFC legend Coleman responded in the comments, writing: "Love this turn it up brother (fist emoji) let me know if I can help."

The Smashing Machine centers around the life of former UFC heavyweight Mark Kerr - who will be played by The Rock in the upcoming movie.

Kerr earned 'The Smashing Machine' nickname while competing during the UFC’s early days when fighters were required to fight twice in one night.

Kerr famously scored four first-round stoppage wins – with his longest fight lasting just 133 seconds - at UFC 14 and UFC 15 in 1997.

Kerr, now 55, struggled with an addiction to painkillers and has openly talked about how it impacted his career since retiring from MMA.

Kerr has since turned his life around, but The Rock’s film will focus on his struggle with addiction, winning, love and friendship in the year 2000 and is based on the 2002 HBO documentary, The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.

WWE sensation Johnson has already been hard at work preparing for his next acting gig and has posted training footage of his MMA moves to social media.

The Rock captioned the post: "MMA training camp. Preparing for 'Smashing Machine'

"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.

"Growing and grateful."

As for Bader, there's no word yet on what his role in the film will be.

However, the fact he'll be working on the set in Vancouver for three months suggests it's a pretty prominent role.

The 40-year-old MMA veteran first made a name for himself by winning season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter. 

Former Light Heavyweight Bader fought a number of icons inside the UFC octagon including Jon Jones, who he suffered his first MMA loss to at UFC 126 in 2011.

He also beat former Light Heavyweight champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson via unanimous decision at UFC 144 a year later.

Bader moved under the Bellator banner in 2017 which marked the beginning of a period of complete dominance in the promotion.

He became Bellator Light Heavyweight champion that year and at Bellator 214 in 2019 became the first fighter in the promotion's history to become champion in two weight divisions simultaneously, when he knocked out Fedor Emelianenko for the vacant Bellator Heavyweight World Championship.

He most recently fought in February, suffering a knockout loss to Renan Ferreira on the PFL vs. Bellator crossover card in Saudi Arabia.

‘Problema’ scored a knockdown just seconds into the contest to defeat the Bellator Heavyweight Champion.

Bader will now try his hand at acting in The Smashing Machine directed by Benny Safdie with independent studio A24 producing.

English actress Emily Blunt will also star in the film which is set to be released in 2025.