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It all began with a shared respectful nod between two powerful figures at a Santa Monica Gold’s Gym in the summer of 1997. One-time Olympic wrestling contender Mark Kerr was training for his debut Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, after his dominant performance in a three-match, one-night tournament in Brazil just two months prior. Dwayne “Rocky Maivia” Johnson, a former NFL prospect sidelined with a knee injury suffered during his second year with the WWE, came up to him.

“Would you join me for lunch?” Johnson inquired Kerr, who consented to meet at the Firehouse restaurant in Santa Monica. Their conversation inevitably drifted to mixed martial arts, as Johnson peppered the collegiate wrestling titleholder with specific questions about the loosely governed sport. Mixed martial arts was gaining popularity in Japan, where several promotions employed pro wrestlers for “crossover” fights.

“How’s this organization to work for? How’s the pay and do they pay on time? How’s the work schedule? I sensed from his inquiries that he was deeply considering his options,” recalled Kerr, then 29 years old. “I questioned him why he’d leave the WWE, which seemed much more of a secure choice than fighting. When he informed me he was losing out financially on the road, touring 250 days a year for $150,000, I understood.”

The pair swapped numbers and parted ways, like fleeting acquaintances. Kerr defected from the UFC to Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships the next year for earnings exceeding $200,000, while the heroic “Maivia” returned to the WWE and turned heel, courtesy of Vince McMahon. “The Rock” appeared soon after and the attention-grabbing Johnson’s career quickly snapped into place.

Peaks and Valleys 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 few competitors 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 pain management from decades of cumulative pain to enhance his endurance for Pride’s grueling 10-minute rounds. Kerr had damaged cartilage in his ribcage that pained him with each breath.

“There was never a shortage of doctors [in Arizona] who’d provide me opioids,” Kerr remarked, “and if one refused, I’d just find the next.”

Kerr was hooked to Vicodin in a short time, a missed dose creating anxiety, abdominal pain and fatigue. Being no novice to intravenous drugging, taking tablets quickly evolved into shooting liquid directly into his veins. Kerr concealed his Nubain and morphine bottle in the guest bathroom out of sight from his girlfriend, Dawn. He injected every morning, sometimes waking hours later slumped over the toilet when he’d dosed too much.

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

A camera crew recorded this period on film, which became the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine. By then, Kerr’s MMA career was finished. When he met Johnson a another time in 2003, it was a reversal of fortune. “The Rock”, having been supported by Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania XVIII the year prior, was a bona fide superstar with two movies under his belt. Johnson gushed to Kerr about the documentary, as the MMA fighter fretted over his decision to reveal his troubled side. Kerr hadn’t been offered a fight in over two years. He was no longer an intravenous user, but alcoholism had become Kerr’s daily enemy; he could down four bottles of red wine in one sitting. 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, of all things, an poorly executed takedown that sent his head driving into the canvas.

Personal Struggles and New Beginnings

Kerr wed Dawn and they had a son, Bryce, in 2004. Their marriage stayed volatile for years, as Kerr balanced drinking and the occasional personal-training job between fights. After his final defeat in 2009, Kerr had little option but to retire. A tarnished former champion was of little value to fight promoters. Kerr pivoted to automobile sales, but feared getting recognized by potential buyers.

“I could often sense when someone noticed me, even if they didn’t bring it up,” 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 starring role in Return to Witch Mountain, his 11th film. Soon, Dwayne Johnson, minus “the Rock,” would become a household name.

As Johnson’s path rose over the next decade, Kerr’s plummeted. There was job-hopping and three stints in rehab. Dawn separated from him, but their volatile relationship persisted as they tried to co-parent their son. Finally, it was the 14-year-old Bryce’s plea that stopped 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 tough day for me, but asked if I could stop drinking the day after,” explained Kerr. “How could I not listen?”

Renewed Opportunity and Hollywood Interest

Kerr was 10 months clean when Brad Slater, Johnson’s longtime agent, called about securing the MMA pioneer’s life rights. The call was completely out of the blue. Kerr and Johnson hadn’t communicated in 12 years, and Johnson, the movie star, now had more cache over the roles he chose. Johnson had never forgotten about Kerr’s documentary and secretly had hoped he’d get to play the tough, yet sensitive fighter.

Hiram Garcia, David Koplan, Mark Kerr, Dwayne Johnson, Benny Safdie, Emily Blunt and Andrea Romeo attend 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 its rudder. Safdie set to work adapting the documentary into a screenplay, mining Kerr for additional scenes to flesh out Mark and Dawn’s relationship.

“When the global health crisis hit 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 work out.”

In sobriety, Kerr got back in touch 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 at some point in the 57-day shoot for Oppenheimer, Safdie persuaded co-star Emily Blunt to watch the documentary. Blunt, a long-standing friend of Johnson’s, right away called her Jungle Cruise co-star, telling him the time was the moment to get the film done. Blunt agreed to play Kerr’s girlfriend, Dawn, and the project gained momentum.

Kerr got another call from Slater in September 2023, but this time there was a filming date that spring. Kerr toured 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 honored that approach,” noted Kerr. “I’m glad I kept my distance. When my son saw the film, he couldn’t believe how DJ got down my [softer] speech and mannerisms. My own son!”

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

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

“It’s amazing that a small decision I made decades ago, to keep the [documentary] cameras rolling while my life crashed and burned, evolved into all this,” expressed Kerr, who plans to write a book next. “I couldn’t be happier with how this all turned out and I can honestly say that I’ve made friends for life from it.”