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With the growing worldwide popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA) as an athletic sport, numerous MMA films have come to theaters, television, and DVDs.
The following is a list of live action MMA films where at least one character or martial artist fights in the MMA style or MMA is the central theme. For example, plot of the film may deal with cage fighting, a mixed martial arts competition, or martial artists fighting in different styles.
Films listed in order by year of release
Films listed in alphabetical order
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate school at the age of ten, which led Van Damme to hold the rank of 2nd-dan black belt in karate, and compete in several karate and kickboxing competitions. As a teenager, he won the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association in 1979 and the Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title in 1978. With the desire of becoming an actor in Hollywood, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world.
Frank William Dux is a Canadian-American martial artist and fight choreographer. According to Dux, a ninjutsu expert named Senzo Tanaka trained him as a ninja when he was a teenager. He established his own school of ninjutsu called Dux Ryu Ninjutsu, and has said he won a secret martial arts tournament called the Kumite in 1975. His alleged victory at the Kumite served as the inspiration for the 1988 film Bloodsport starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Dux's victory at the Kumite has been disputed, as has the existence of both the Kumite he described and Senzo Tanaka.
Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a supporting cast of Leah Ayres, Forest Whitaker, Donald Gibb, Roy Chiao, and Bolo Yeung. The film centers on Frank Dux, a United States Army Captain and ninjutsu practitioner who competes in an underground full-contact martial arts tournament called the Kumite in Hong Kong. Based on Dux's real-life claims, the film was marketed as a true story. It was one of Van Damme's first lead roles and showcased his abilities, launching his career as a mainstream action star.
Johnny Cage is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Introduced in the original 1992 game, he is an action movie star with an extensive martial arts background. The series depicts Cage as one of the primary heroes defending Earthrealm from various threats, as well as the comic foil. In the first rebooted timeline, Cage is also the love interest of Special Forces officer Sonya Blade and the father of their daughter Cassie. He is inspired by martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme, particularly Van Damme's character, Frank Dux, in the 1988 film Bloodsport. A staple of the franchise, Cage has appeared in various media outside of the games.
Vítor Vieira Belfort is a Brazilian professional boxer and retired mixed martial artist who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. He is the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, as well as a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Champion. Known for his explosive knockout power, Belfort is tied for fifth for the most finishes in UFC history with 14. Belfort also competed for MMA promotions Pride FC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and Cage Rage.
Cung Le is an American actor, retired mixed martial artist, Sanshou fighter and kickboxer. Le is perhaps best known in mixed martial arts for competing in Strikeforce, holding a record of 7–1 with the organization before its demise. He defeated Frank Shamrock to become the second Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before vacating the title to further pursue his acting career. He competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), holding a record of 2–2 with the organization. In kickboxing and sanshou, he is a former International Kickboxing Federation Light Heavyweight World Champion, having a professional kickboxing record of 17–0 before moving to mixed martial arts.
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen seasons on Spike TV. The show features professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as they train and compete against each other for a prized six-figure contract with the UFC. The series debuted on January 17, 2005, with its first episode, "The Quest Begins". To date, there have been thirty one seasons of the show, two per calendar year, some years having only one season. Each season features either one or two weight classes in the tournament.
Michael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist. He is the first Black American to portray a major comic book superhero starring as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn. White appeared as Marcus Williams in the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), and starred as the character on the TBS/OWN comedy-drama television series Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse. White portrayed Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy and the Cyborg Seth in Universal Soldier: The Return, opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme. He portrayed boxer Mike Tyson in the 1995 HBO television film Tyson. He also played the title role in the blaxploitation parody film Black Dynamite (2009), as well as the animated series of the same name.
James Thompson is an English professional mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division. A seasoned professional competitor since 2003, Thompson has also formerly competed for PRIDE FC, Bellator MMA, Cage Rage, EliteXC, Sengoku, DREAM, KSW, Rizin, and the SFL. He last fought for Bellator in 2017.
Stephen "The Fight Professor" Quadros is an American broadcaster, specializing in play-by-play and color commentary, as well as interviews for the combat sports genre on cable, pay-per-view and DVD. His resume encompasses over 100 international mixed martial arts events since 1997.
Keith Jardine is an American actor and retired mixed martial artist who most notably competed in the UFC and Strikeforce.
Erik Paulson is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first American to win the World Light Heavyweight Shooto Championship in Japan.
Affliction Clothing is an American clothing manufacturer and retailer based in Seal Beach, California. It was launched in 2005 by Courtney Dubar and partners, and is now owned by Affliction Holdings LLC. The company offers a wide range of products, including t-shirts, hoodies, swimwear, headwear, and watches.
Kevin Ferguson, better known as Kimbo Slice, was a Bahamian-born American mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and actor. Originally a bare-knuckle boxer, he became noted for his role in mutual combat street fight videos which were spread online, leading Rolling Stone to call him "The King of the Web Brawlers".
Héctor Echavarría is an Argentine activist, entrepreneur and a filmmaker, martial artist.
Quinton Ramone Jackson, known by his ring name of Rampage Jackson, is an American mixed martial artist, actor, kickboxer, and professional wrestler. During the course of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, Jackson won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, the Bellator Season 10 Light Heavyweight Tournament Championship, and unified the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with the Pride FC World Middleweight Championship belt. Due to his eccentric personality and aggressive fighting style, Jackson became a star in Japan during his tenure with Pride FC and following his move to the UFC, he helped pioneer MMA's growth into a worldwide sport.
Michel Qissi is a Moroccan Belgian actor, filmmaker, and martial artist best known for his action films. Qissi is the co-founder of The World Cinema Combat Federation (WCCF), an organization he formed with Grand Master Beom Jhoo Lee which teaches fight choreography in filmmaking.
Daniel Bernhardt is a Swiss actor, stuntman, martial artist, and former model. He is known for his work on various action films. He made his acting debut in the leading role in the martial arts film Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996), and appeared in two of its sequels, Bloodsport III (1997) and Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite (1999).
A low kick is a kick in which the attacker strikes the opponent's lower body with the shinbone or foot. This type of kick, under different names, is utilized in numerous martial arts such as Kung fu, karate, taekwondo, kūdō, kickboxing, pradal serey, lethwei, Muay Thai, and MMA.