Undisputed champ Oleksandr Usyk will join The Rock’s MMA film to portray Ukrainian martial arts icon

Boxing's newly minted undisputed heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk puts on his acting shoes to play kickboxing star Igor Vovchanchyn in Dwayne Johnson's MMA biopic.

Undisputed champ Oleksandr Usyk will join The Rock’s MMA film to portray Ukrainian martial arts icon

Oleksandr Usyk plays Igor Vovchanchyn in Dwayne Johnson's upcoming MMA biopic (Source: Instagram/(@therock)/(@espnmma) )

Ukrainian heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk is fresh off a massive win over Tyson Fury this past weekend. He staked his claims to emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years. Aside from a first look at Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s upcoming MMA film The Smashing Machine – other casting announcements are complete. Johnson, who plays Mark Kerr, will have Usyk as Kerr’s rival, Igor Vovchanchyn.

Esteemed MMA Sportswriter and NYT bestselling author Loretta Hunt posted the snippet on X. Luke Thomas, the famed MMA analyst for CBS Sports, pointed out the fact that Usyk plays Igor Vovchanchyn, along with an IMDB snapshot. Official confirmation of the casting is not widespread, though. Vovchanchyn is a Ukrainian MMA legend and he is played by Usyk, the greatest heavyweight boxer in modern times.

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HBO’s hard-hitting 2000 documentary The Smashing Machine chronicled the struggles of MMA fame Kerr in the yesteryears. Now, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson partners with independent studio A24 for the movie of the same name, with Benny Safdie sitting at the helm. Johnson’s latest transformation has already taken the internet by storm. Now, Oleksandr Usyk’s involvement will yield similar excitement.

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Usyk, 22-0-0 (14 KOs), won the undisputed clash dominantly. The fallout of his victory sets him up to new heights of untapped glory. Usyk will run things back to fulfill a contractual rematch clause with Fury yet again. While his story isn’t set yet, his portrayal of fellow Ukrainian Igor Vovchanchyn is what the boxing sphere awaits next.

Who was Igor Vovchanchyn? What lies ahead of Oleksandr Usyk for this role?

Professional kickboxer and MMA sensation – Igor Vovchanchyn was quite a name in Ukraine. Consequently, the IAKSA-sanction World Kickboxing champ made his mark in No-holds-bar matchups (predecessors of UFC). Other than “no holds barred” one-night tournaments, he also won nine open-weight Mix-rules tournaments. His 37-fight unbeaten streak is the second-longest in MMA. Additionally, he’s the second most successful MMA fighter of all time in terms of knockout wins.

Oleksandr Usyk has a long road ahead in portraying Igor Vovchanchyn
Oleksandr Usyk has a long road ahead in portraying Igor Vovchanchyn (Source: pinterest.mx/ringtv.com)

Surprisingly enough, “Ice Cold” Vovchanchyn compiled a sturdy 56-10-1 (1 NC) record with a win over Mark Kerr, whom Dwayne Johnson plays. Mark Kerr is a 4-fight UFC veteran with highlight tints and back-to-back UFC Heavyweight tournament wins. Transitioning to PRIDE FC, the wrestling phenom faced Vovchanchyn, Enson Inoue, and Kazuyuki Fujita in Japan.

Safe to say, Oleksandr Usyk has quite the challenge ahead in portraying the Zolochevsky native. As one comment noted on Luke Thomas’s (@lthomasnews) post, Usyk needs more timber in his midriff for the portrayal. As such, it remains to be seen if Usyk bulks up for the role.

Moreover, Vovchanchyn and Kerr fought twice in their career. Hence, the film will feature some scenes between The Rock and Usyk in some capacity. However, the length of Usyk’s role in the film remains unconfirmed. Since the attention is on Mark Kerr, Usyk’s portrayal of Vovchanchyn might be a short but sweet affair.

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