Fighter played by The Rock in new movie beat Kurt Angle in wrestling match before UFC fame
02/24/2025 07:15 AM
Benny Safdie’s ‘The Smashing Machine’ is set to release this year with the A24 distributed biopic seeing Dwayne Johnson play the role of Mark Kerr.
Kerr is an incredibly accomplished wrestler and grappler who competed in both the UFC and PRIDE during the early days of mixed martial arts with his career already being the subject of a HBO documentary under the same title.
As a big combat sports fan, the film has been a passion project for ‘The Rock’ as he looks to really sink his teeth into a challenging role.
Playing Kerr has required Johnson to push physically and emotionally into new territories in order to do Kerr’s story justice.
With the help of some combat sports cameos from the likes of Oleksandr Usyk, fans are sure to get an education into Kerr’s career but one detail might get lost in the shuffle.
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Mark Kerr defeated Kurt Angle in wrestling long before he transitioned to MMA
As a former NCAA Division I champion and four-time ADCC world champion, Mark Kerr is about as accomplished as it gets in grappling without medalling at the Olympics.
A former opponent of his from his wrestling days has this over him as he faced off with WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle several times in his career.
Having already beaten the likes of Randy Couture to become an All-American in 1992, Kerr was constantly in the running for a podium finish wherever he was competing.
Having won the World Team Trials in both 1993 and 1994, a clip from the USA wrestling vault shows Kerr and Angle going up against each other in ’93 where the more experienced grappler at the time came out on top.
Angle would later earn his revenge after beating Kerr to earn his spot at the 1996 Olympics which he famously went on to win gold at despite competing in the games with a broken neck.
Mark Kerr and Kurt Angle went their separate ways after 1996
After missing out on the 1996 Olympics to Kurt Angle, Mark Kerr decided to pursue MMA where he would make his pro debut the following year.
In 1997, Kerr won back-to-back heavyweight tournaments at UFC 14 and 15 before making the switch to PRIDE where he debuted at the promotion’s second event in 1998.
1996 was also a pivotal moment for Kurt Angle who would slowly be enticed by the world of pro wrestling with the gold medallist making his televised in-ring debut for WWE (WWF at the time) in November of 1999.
Angle did flirt with the idea of competing in MMA for some time and even had serious conversations about appearing on The Ultimate Fighter or fighting for Bellator but neither ever happened, likely due to the significant injuries that he suffered throughout his career.
