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It all began with a mutual knowing nod between two powerful figures at a Santa Monica Gold’s Gym in the summer of 1997. Former Olympic wrestling hopeful Mark Kerr was training for his first Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, following his commanding performance in a three-fight, one-night tournament in Brazil only two months earlier. Dwayne “Rocky Maivia” Johnson, a ex- NFL prospect sidelined with a knee injury sustained during his second year with the WWE, came up to him.

“Can I take you to lunch?” Johnson asked Kerr, who consented to meet at the Firehouse restaurant in Santa Monica. Their discussion naturally drifted to mixed martial arts, as Johnson peppered the collegiate wrestling titleholder with pointed questions about the loosely governed sport. Mixed martial arts was gaining popularity in Japan, where multiple promotions employed pro wrestlers for hybrid fights.

“How’s this organization to work for? Are the payments reliable and timely? What does the schedule look like? I could tell from his questions that he was seriously contemplating his choices,” said Kerr, age 29 at the time. “I questioned him why he’d leave the WWE, which appeared much more of a stable choice than competing. When he told me he was losing out financially on the road, traveling 250 days a year for $150,000, I got it.”

The pair exchanged numbers and parted ways, like fleeting acquaintances. Kerr defected from the UFC to Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships the following year for earnings topping $200,000, while the babyface “Maivia” went back to the WWE and turned heel, courtesy of Vince McMahon. “The Rock” emerged shortly thereafter and the attention-grabbing Johnson’s career quickly snapped into place.

The Rise and Fall of a Titleholder

Between 1997 and 2000, Kerr was the No 1 MMA heavyweight in the world. His record soared to 11-0, but it was a hectic pace no athlete could keep up for long. Kerr was no stranger to drugs; a trainer had introduced him to steroids in his early fights. Now, Kerr needed relief from years of accumulated pain to enhance his endurance for Pride’s exhausting 10-minute rounds. Kerr had damaged cartilage in his ribcage that caused discomfort with him with every breath.

“There was always an abundance of doctors [in Arizona] who’d provide me opioids,” Kerr remarked, “and if one said no, I’d just find the next.”

Kerr was addicted to Vicodin in a short time, a skipped dose causing anxiety, abdominal pain and fatigue. Having prior experience to intravenous drugging, taking tablets soon turned into shooting liquid straight into his veins. Kerr concealed his Nubain and morphine bottle in the guest bathroom away from his girlfriend, Dawn. He injected every morning, sometimes waking hours later collapsed against the toilet when he’d overmedicated.

Mark Kerr, on the right, fights Moti Horenstein during UFC 14 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama, on 27 July 1997.

A camera crew captured this phase on film, which became the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine. By then, Kerr’s MMA career was over. When he encountered Johnson a second time in 2003, it was a reversal of fortune. “The Rock”, having been put over by Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania XVIII the year prior, was a genuine superstar with two feature films under his belt. Johnson gushed to Kerr about the documentary, as the MMA fighter fretted over his decision to expose his troubled side. Kerr hadn’t been presented with a fight in over two years. He was no longer an intravenous user, but alcoholism had become Kerr’s constant struggle; he could down four bottles of red wine in one session. By the time another Pride offer came around, Kerr was far from fighting shape. On the sport’s biggest stage, he lost consciousness seconds into the contest with, ironically, an ill-timed takedown that sent his head driving into the canvas.

Personal Struggles and Fresh Starts

Kerr wed Dawn and they had a son, Bryce, in 2004. Their marriage remained volatile for years, as Kerr balanced drinking and the occasional personal-training job between fights. After his last defeat in 2009, Kerr had little option but to call it a day. A damaged former champion was of no use to fight promoters. Kerr switched to automobile sales, but feared getting noticed by potential buyers.

“I could often sense when someone recognized me, even if they didn’t mention it,” commented Kerr. “They always got the same look on their face, as if to say, ‘What happened to you?’”

Meanwhile, in 2009, Johnson landed yet another lead part in Return to Witch Mountain, his 11th film. Soon, Dwayne Johnson, minus “the Rock,” would become a widely recognized figure.

As Johnson’s trajectory ascended over the next decade, Kerr’s plummeted. There was frequent career changes and three periods in rehab. Dawn separated from him, but their volatile relationship continued as they tried to raise together their son. Finally, it was the 14-year-old Bryce’s request that halted Kerr’s self-destruction in September 2018.

“It was the yearly remembrance of my mother’s death and Bryce said he knew today was a difficult day for me, but requested if I could quit drinking the day after,” shared Kerr. “How could I not listen?”

Renewed Opportunity and Film Industry Interest

Kerr was 10 months sober when Brad Slater, Johnson’s longtime agent, rang about obtaining the MMA pioneer’s life rights. The call was completely unexpected. Kerr and Johnson hadn’t communicated in 12 years, and Johnson, the movie star, now had more cache over the roles he selected. Johnson had always remembered about Kerr’s documentary and privately had wished he’d get to play the rugged, yet vulnerable fighter.

The group including Mark Kerr and Dwayne Johnson appear at the red carpet of the movie The Smashing Machine at the Venice Film Festival in September.

Johnson announced the film at a UFC press conference in September 2019. His Seven Bucks Productions would be at the ship’s helm, with filmmaker Benny Safdie guiding it. Safdie set to work adapting the documentary into a screenplay, mining Kerr for extra scenes to flesh out Mark and Dawn’s relationship.

“When the pandemic struck in March 2020, I thought it was over for the film,” said Kerr, who’d accepted to a peaceful Arizona life. “If it was destined, it would all fall into place.”

In sobriety, Kerr reconnected with a gym friend named Franci. They began seeing each other during the pandemic and would marry on New Year’s Eve 2023.

During the pandemic, Kerr didn’t hear a peep from Johnson, Safdie or Seven Bucks, but sometime during the 57-day shoot for Oppenheimer, Safdie convinced co-star Emily Blunt to watch the documentary. Blunt, a longtime friend of Johnson’s, immediately called her Jungle Cruise co-star, telling him the time was now to get the film done. Blunt signed on to play Kerr’s girlfriend, Dawn, and the fire was lit.

Kerr got another call from Slater in September 2023, but this time there was a filming date that spring. Kerr visited the Vancouver film set that April and filming began that May. According to Johnson’s request, Kerr didn’t visit the set during shooting.

“DJ had never played a living person before and I respected that process,” said Kerr. “I’m glad I stayed away. When my son saw the film, he couldn’t fathom how DJ got down my [softer] speech and mannerisms. My own son!”

Indeed, Johnson’s turn as Kerr is believable, especially for those that know the former fighter. Johnson earned a 16-minute standing ovation for the film at the Venice Film Festival, while the creative Safdie took home its prestigious director’s prize.

For the 56-year-old Kerr, it’s a new opportunity at notoriety, however fleeting that might be. Johnson has been adamant that Kerr be at his side for most of the film’s promotional tour.

“It’s remarkable that a seemingly minor decision I made years ago, to keep the [documentary] cameras filming while my life fell apart, grew into all this,” said Kerr, who plans to write a book next. “I couldn’t be happier with how this all turned out and I can truthfully say that I’ve gained friends for life from it.”