Curtis Blaydes explains surprising decision to turn down major role in Dwayne Johnson's 'The Smashing Machine' MMA film

Curtis Blaydes is locked in on his current pursuit of the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship, even if that means turning down movie roles. That includes Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's current film, 'The Smashing Machine'.

As the UFC 304 title challenger explained to Daniel Cormier ahead of his rematch with Tom Aspinall, 'Razor' initially accepted a role in 'The Smashing Machine' but had to reject it after the plans got delayed. Blaydes explained that he was excited for the opportunity and was ready to fly to Vancouver but the change in dates would have conflicted with his current fight camp.

Blaydes said:

"I was offered to be one of 'The Rock's' gym partners in the movie. We were gonna do it and go up to Vancouver in like May 16th. Then it got pushed to like June 14th. [But then] I had to fight so I picked the fight over the movie. Hopefully, I win the fight and get more movie offers."

At the time of the interview, Blaydes had never been in a television show, movie, or any work that would give him acting credit. His IMDb page only consists of UFC appearances, including his fight with Aspinall in the co-main event of UFC 304.

Watch the full interview with Curtis Blaydes and Daniel Cormier from Daniel Cormier on YouTube below:

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What is 'The Smashing Machine', the movie Curtis Blaydes said he was offered a role in?

Curtis Blaydes is not an actor but he is a heavyweight MMA fighter, a big part of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's next big film.

As the next major MMA movie to come out, 'The Smashing Machine' will detail the life of former UFC 14 and UFC 15 heavyweight tournament winner Mark Kerr. The film gets its title from Kerr's nickname, who earned the moniker from his action-packed fight style.

Johnson will portray Kerr with Emily Blunt also announced as a part of the main cast. Several MMA fighters and boxers are expected to be featured in the movie including former undisputed boxing heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Bas Rutten, Satoshi Ishii, and Ryan Bader are also confirmed to have roles in the film, per IMDb. Rutten is listed as playing himself with Bader to act as Mark Coleman and Ishii is expected to portray retired heavyweight Enson Inoue.