Hollywood might be cooking up a Jon Jones biopic, and Mark Wahlberg has already decided who he wants to play the fighter. Wahlberg has his sights set on Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to play ‘Bones,’ and he’s not just throwing the idea around. The veteran actor is even willing to produce the whole thing himself.
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Wahlberg, who played boxer Micky Ward in the 2010 biopic The Fighter, appeared on the UFC 330 broadcast before Islam Makhachev vs. Ian Garry. Abdul-Mateen, better known as Black Manta in the Aquaman films, was also present to promote their next film By Any Means. But before long, the conversation took a sharp left and went from their new movie to a possibly wild Jon Jones Hollywood story.
“He and I were just talking,” Wahlberg told UFC analysts Din Thomas and Chris Weidman. “He knows I played Micky Ward in a biopic, but this guy looks more like Jon Jones than Jon Jones.
“We just started talking about this idea. Jon, if you’re into the idea, I’ll produce the movie.”
Mark Wahlberg was particularly impressed by Abdul-Mateen’s athleticism and believes his physicality would make him an excellent candidate to play the former UFC heavyweight champion.
“Yahya, there is no other actor who could play him like this [with] the physicality that he has,” he continued on the broadcast. “We played baseball today at Philly’s Park. We played basketball. He was dunking and hitting home runs over there. This guy is a serious athlete.”
The casting logic isn’t hard to follow. Abdul-Mateen is 40 years old, one year older than Jones, and stands 6-foot-3 to Jones’s listed 6-foot-4. His build and facial features add to the case that he could pull off a convincing portrayal.
It’s also worth mentioning that Wahlberg’s interest in the feature comes from his past success with The Fighter, which earned multiple Academy Award nominations and proved that he could bring the story of a professional fighter to Hollywood.
As for Jon Jones, his career has been anything but straightforward lately. The former UFC two-division champion hasn’t fought since knocking out Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024. Since then, there’s been one dramatic twist after another: the stalled Tom Aspinall bout, retirement announcements, a comeback tease, an arthritis diagnosis, and a very public beef with UFC CEO Dana White.
Then followed another retirement. ‘Bones’ stepped away after being excluded from the UFC’s White House event, despite making it obvious he wanted in. Now, with his fighting future still up in the air, ‘Bones’ may find himself in a whole new kind of spotlight.
And to be honest, what better man to make his biopic than his superfan? After all, Mark Wahlberg’s interest in making a Jon Jones biopic should come as little surprise considering just how highly he rates the former UFC champion.
Mark Wahlberg considers Jon Jones his UFC GOAT
During a livestream appearance with YouTuber N3on, Mark Wahlberg was asked to pick his favorite UFC fighter. The 55-year-old actor hesitated to choose a personal favorite, but he had no trouble deciding who he believes is the greatest fighter in UFC history.
“Who is my favorite UFC fighter? That’s tough. I have so many,” Wahlberg said. “I think Jon Jones is the greatest of all time. Jon Jones, it don’t get no better.”
The veteran actor also name-dropped several other legends he admires.
“I love Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Georges St-Pierre, and Chuck Liddell,” he added. “There’s so many. I love the old school. I’ve known about the UFC since it first started.”
With Wahlberg already convinced Jones is the greatest to ever do it, turning that belief into a movie starts to look less like a passing comment and more like a real pitch, one that now just needs Jones himself, and a studio, to say yes.