As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to grow, so do the opportunities for the fighters who are increasingly becoming house-hold names.

In the past couple of years there have been a number of films featuring familiar names from the MMA world, though more often than not these have been dodgy low budget b-movies trying to cash in on the sports popularity (If your not sure what I’m referring to then check out this clip featuring Rampage Jackson from the film ‘Death Warrior’ as a good example).

More recently however some have began to make in-roads into securing more significant roles in credible films, and even the occasional Hollywood blockbuster.

So sit back, grab some popcorn and read on as we pick out some of the movies that are either out now, or still to be released that feature familiar faces from the world of mixed martial arts.

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Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson - The A-Team: In Cinemas On 11th June

Plot: “A group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed.”

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Of all the mma stars currently featuring in movies Rampage’s starring role as ‘B.A Baracus’ in The A-Team remake is arguably the most high profile. Appearing alongside familiar Hollywood stars like Liam Neeson and Jessica Biel this one is being pitched as a potential summer blockbuster.

According to the director Joe Carnahan (Smoking Aces / Ticker) they decided not to have Rampage try to copy Mr.T, but rather to create a new, updated version of B.A Baracus for the movie.

The A-Team could be a hit and catapult Rampage to movie stardom. On the other hand a popcorn movie like this may be easy prey for the critics, and there’s also the risk of a backlash against him from nostalgic fans who wanted Mr.T to resume his iconic role from the original TV series.

Here’s the trailer for the movie which hits cinemas on June 11th.

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Randy Couture – The Expendables: In Cinemas On August 13th

Plot: “A team of mercenaries head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator. ”

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Randy Couture is no stranger to acting having had a leading role in the ‘Scorpion King: Rise Of A Warrior’ amongst other projects, but this should be his biggest movie to date.

Starring alongside a rogues gallery of action stars like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren, as well as other Hollywood actors like Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Charisma Carpenter, this movie should certainly attract a lot of attention when it’s released late in August.

It’s certainly not the kind of film that’s going to be up for The Oscars next year but the big question here is, how big of a part will Couture actually play in the film alongside all these familiar names from the silver-screen? If the trailer is anything to go by then it won’t be too big.

Judge for yourselves by watching the trailer below.

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Gina Carano – Knockout: In Cinemas Sometime In 2011

Plot: “A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.”

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Gina Carano will be surrounded by an all-star cast which includes Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender and Channing Tatum, for her first starring role.

At the helm is Steven Soderbergh, the oscar winning director of films like ‘Traffic’, ‘Erin Brockovich’ and the Oceans 11-13 series, and that gives some hope that this spy-thriller could be the most credible and stylish film featuring an MMA star to date.

I’m curious to see how this one turns out. Carano certainly has the looks and natural charm to be a movie star, but she has always been camera-shy outside of the cage so it will be interesting to see if she can make an impact as an actress on the big screen.

This one is still in production so there’s no trailer as yet. Instead you’ll have to make do with a fleeting glimpse of Carano on set in Dublin getting chased by a SWAT team.

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Chuck Liddell – Passion Play: Release Date TBC

Plot: “An angel under the thumb of a ruthless gangster is saved by a trumpet player down on his luck.”

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Chuck Liddell’s first acting role at just 10 years of age in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part in ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’, and he’s had small roles in a handful of television and movie sets since finding fame in the octagon.

His latest foray onto the big-screen is believed to be a minor part as a gangster in ‘Passion Play’, starring Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox and Bill Murray. It’s rumored Liddell had to pass through several auditions to get the part though, which suggests he will at least have some kind of speaking role.

The film, which is directed by Mitch Glazer (who wrote the scripts for ‘The Recruit’ and ‘Scrooged’), sounds a little out-there with Megan Fox’s character described as a “a caged circus freak with wings. All indications are that this one will be geared towards critical rather than commercial success when it eventually comes out.

Again this film is still in production so the best we can dig up as a preview is a photo of Fox and Rourke on-set.

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Andrei Arlovski – Universal Soldier: Regeneration – Out Now On DVD

Plot: “When terrorists threaten nuclear catastrophe, the world’s only hope is to reactivate decommissioned Universal Soldier Luc Deveraux.”

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He might not have had much luck in his fights recently, but Andrei Arlovski has been having a little more success with his fledgling acting career.

The film brings back the two adversaries who made the original Universal Soldier back in the 80’s a hit – Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, and throw’s Arlovski into the mix to up the ‘bad guy’ quotient. UFC fighter Mike Pyle makes an appearance in a smaller role.

Though the film went straight to DVD it has been well received by critics and fans, with both Arlovski and Pyle receiving a solid reception for their roles. Of course their roles were more action-orientated than anything else, but still, this could have turned out a lot worse.

Watch the official trailer below, and as an added bonus see Arlovski and Pyle fighting to the death in a full scene from the movie.

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Bob Sapp – Conan: Release date TBC 2011

Plot: “The tale of Conan the Cimmerian and his adventures across the continent of Hyboria.”

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Bob Sapp, who I guess can loosely be described as a mixed martial artists (though in recent times he more accurately resembles a human punching bag), is set to feature in a reboot of the Conan franchise, playing a villain known as Ukafa.

Sadly Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t be reprising his role as Conan, apparently the little known Jason Mamoa (Stargate) takes that honor, while Mickey Rourke and Stephen Lang (Avatar) have also been cast. Marcus Nispel who previously directed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday The 13th remakes will be at the helm.

Regenerating franchises has been big business in Hollywood lately so this could potentially be a good role for Sapp, though the cast that’s so far been assembled doesn’t exactly scream big-screen blockbuster to me. If nothing else at least it should keep Sapp from embarrassing himself in MMA bouts for a while.

There’s no footage available from this movie yet, so instead here’s Bob Sapp showing his full range of acting abilities in a Japanese commercial…

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Cung Le / Roger Huerta – Tekken: Release Date TBC 2010

Plot: “A high-octane action movie about a young man who discovers he holds a great power and must battle a team of elite fighters who will stop at nothing in order to get it from him.”

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Cung Le took a much publicized break from fighting and vacated his Strikeforce middleweight title to work on movies, and action flick Tekken is perhaps the most profile one he’s been involved with.

Based on the popular video game series, Le takes the role of “Marshall Law” alongside fellow MMA fighter Roger Huerta who also put his MMA career on hold to take a smaller role as “Miguel Caballero Rojo.” It’s safe to say there isn’t much acting required from either guy here, but their flashy fighting skills will certainly can in handy.

Both fighters clearly had high hopes for the film, but despite the loyal Tekken fan-base this one has failed to get US cinema distribution so far. It will be released in Japan on the 20th of March, but will go straight to DVD in the UK on April 5th.

Here’s the trailer for the movie which includes a very brief glimpse of both Le and Huerta.

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Heath Herring – Salt: In Cinemas On August 20th

Plot: “As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.”

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Heath Herring stated recently that he is in no hurry to go back to fighting as he’s busy with his acting career, and doesn’t think he’s getting paid enough as a fighter. He is indeed set to feature in a few films, though most appear to be the piss-poor straight-to-DVD efforts that Hector Echavarria makes.

One film that does stand-out on his resume however is the espionage-thriller Salt. Originally written for Tom Cruise, it was rewritten as a female part after he backed out and Angelina Jolie stepped in. Directed by Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games / The Saint / The Bone Collector) this could have the makings of a hit movie.

All sounds good so far, but there is a catch. According to IMDB Herring only appears in an uncredited role as a henchman so it’s unlikely to be a speaking part. Despite that it’s still infinitely better than appearing in a Hector Echavarria movie.

Watch the sneak preview trailer below, but don’t hold your breath trying to spot Herring.

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Fedor Emelianenko – The Fifth Execution: Release Date TBC 2010

Plot: On an island in South-East Asia there is an outbreak of a new disease that affects animals.

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Do you hear that noise? It’s the sound of me beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Fedor Emelianenko’s feature film debut has that straight-to-DVD B-Movie feel to it, but it doesn’t look quite as horrific as some of the movies I’ve seen MMA fighters in over the years…not that that’s saying much!

‘Fifth Execution’ features a predominantly Russian based cast, but there is room for a couple of familiar Hollywood actors who have undoubtedly seen better days – Michael Madsen and Rutger Hauer. The trailer for the film, which you can see below, has been around since last year but yet there’s no official release date set for this one yet which suggests they might be having distribution issues.

It’s billed as an action movie, but I feel it would also work as a ‘mystery’ since I sat through the whole 11 minute trailer (yep, 11 minutes) and I’m still none the wiser as to what it’s all about. See for yourself…

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Tim Slyvia – Oxy-Morons: Due Out In October 2010

Plot: An Independent film depicting the graphic, harsh reality and horror of the Oxycontin drug trade in Boston, MA.

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Finally we’ve got Tim Slyvia’s acting debut in Oxy-Morons, a low budget offering that’s apparently based on the true-story of the lead actor, Johnny Hickey.  As an indie offering with a mainly local cast, don’t expect this to appear on the big-screen any time soon.

Slyvia plays the part of “Monster”, a violent convict who appears during scenes shot in a jail. It’s not clear whether he has much of a speaking part in the film but he is at the center of a fight scene during a riot at the prison.

Like Fedor’s movie, this one has an incredibly long trailer.  Long enough in fact that by the end you feel like you’ve seen pretty much all you need to see, though apparently the full film is 2 hours long. It seems like there might be an interesting story at the heart of this one, but the trailer would definitely have benefited from being much shorter as it’s low-budget roots definitely stand-out like a sore thumb at times.

…I’d still rather watch this than a Hector Echavarria movie though!

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