Bellator champ Ryan Bader joins cast for Mark Kerr biopic starring The Rock

Ryan Bader is putting his MMA career on hold to dip his toe into the movie industry.

Bader, the current Bellator heavyweight champion, announced on Monday that he will take three-month hiatus and relocate to Vancouver, where he will join the cast of the Mark Kerr biopic “The Smashing Machine,” starring The Rock (via Instagram):

Putting the mma game on pause for a bit as I head to Vancouver for about 3 months. Excited to be a part of an amazing project by Benny Safdie #thesmashingmachine . Giving ode to a couple legends of the sport, @markkerrtsm @markcolemanufc the highs and the lows that come with this crazy ass sport. @therock

WWE star and actor The Rock has recently taken up MMA training as he prepares to play former UFC tournament champion Kerr in the film, which will highlight Kerr’s life and career.

Ohio-born Kerr was a force of nature in his prime. He captured two UFC heavyweight tournament titles, winning the one-night events at UFC 14 and 15 in 1997 before heading to PRIDE and taking on the likes of Igor Vovchanchyn, Enson Inoue and Kazuyuki Fujita in Japan.

Kerr’s career was chronicled in HBO’s hard-hitting 2003 documentary “The Smashing Machine,” and now The Rock will play Kerr in a movie about his life and struggles.

Bader, 40, did not detail specifics about his involvement in the project or to what extent he will have an on-screen presence.

He also did not share his timeline for a return to MMA competition after suffering a 21-second knockout loss to Renan Ferreira in his most recent bout at PFL vs. Bellator: Champions in February.