Last month, Dwayne Johnson impressed moviegoers and fight fans with his impressive portrayal of UFC Hall of Famer Mark Kerr in ‘The Smashing Machine’. The movie did not perform well at the box office, but received good reviews for the cast and their performances. Before we near the end of 2025, it appears that we will be getting another movie based on mixed martial arts, featuring the Oscar-winning actor, Russell Crowe.

During his appearance on the latest Joe Rogan Experience, Russell Crowe revealed that acting isn’t the only thing an actor does on a movie set. There are other things like getting makeup done, getting into costumes, among others. “All of those [extra] things [on a film set] you got to do very, very rapidly,” the 61-year-old said. Some of the other tasks while filming a movie are not as easy as the others, and that was particularly evident when Crowe was shooting his upcoming MMA movie, which was supposed to be based on the UFC.

Russell Crowe reveals UFC getting snubbed for ONE Championship

Russell Crowe opened up to Joe Rogan about ‘The Beast in Me’, which is currently being screened privately in Los Angeles. The movie’s cast includes Liam Hemsworth and Daniel MacPherson, working alongside the Oscar-winning actor. The Taylor Atkins directorial has been made in collaboration with ONE Championship, but originally, the movie-makers wanted the UFC.

“The first one, ‘The Beast in Me’, which is an MMA movie… It was gonna be a UFC thing, but we ended up with ONE Championship,” Russell Crowe told Joe Rogan on the #2406 JRE episode. “So, it’s set in Australia and Thailand, and it’s doing like, little private screenings in Los Angeles at the moment and getting a lot of positive reactions.”

Well, the UFC fans can rest easy even if ‘The Beast in Me’ snubbed Dana White‘s promotion. That’s because a big-time director has announced that he will be working with Dana White for an upcoming movie that will feature the UFC. Here’s what we know.

Zack Snyder teams up with Dana White for ‘Brawler’

One of the most popular directors in Hollywood, Zack Snyder, appears to have come into contact with the Saudi GEA chairman, HE Turki Alalshikh, who claims to be a big fan of his work. Variety reports that the ‘Man of Steel’ director will team up with Dana White to share a story of a fighter in Los Angeles to make it to the biggest level in mixed martial arts, which, of course, is the UFC. The movie is named ‘Brawler.’

“I’ve been a fan of Zack’s work for years, his unique style — from his iconic action sequences to his sweeping visuals and intensely emotional storytelling — coupled with his humanized portrayal of deeply-flawed characters is singular,” said Turki Alalshikh in a statement. Meanwhile, an excited Dana White said, “They are both very passionate about this project to show fans what it takes to become a UFC champion. It’s an incredibly ambitious project, and I look forward to seeing it come to life,” according to Variety.

Well, it looks like Hollywood has plenty more in store for fight fans and cinephiles after the critically acclaimed ‘The Smashing Machine.’ Will Russell Crowe’s MMA movie join the MMA cult classics like Warrior and Never Back Down? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.