Mailbag: The Rock's first 'The Smashing Machine' trailer dropped — what are realistic expectations for the Mark Kerr biopic?

What should we make of the first trailer for The Rock’s upcoming “The Smashing Machine” movie? What’s the ideal lineup for UFC 317 on the so-called International Fight Week? And could the UFC heavyweight title possibly be any more disputed right now?

All that and more in this week’s mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @benfowlkesmma or @benfowlkes.social.bsky.

@lexsimon.bsky.social: Any chance, based on the trailer that that Mark Kerr movie is about 7 outta 10?

It’s unfair to draw too many firm conclusions based solely on a film’s trailer. (That is the disclaimer I will offer before I go right ahead drawing conclusions based on the trailer.) But what confuses me is that it seems like what they’re going for here is a dramatized copy of the original documentary. I just don’t know why you’d do that. Or who it would even be for.

If you haven’t seen “The Smashing Machine,” the 2002 John Hyams documentary, you should. It’s an amazing documentary whether you’re an MMA fan or not. Some of the scenes in the trailer seem to recreate, almost word-for-word, things we saw in that documentary. That seems like such a weird way to go about this because, well, we already have that movie. And it’s a great movie. So why make it again — even giving it the exact same title — only with actors instead of the real people?

Maybe the goal of showing us those scenes is to convince us that Dwayne Johnson is really embodying Mark Kerr here and not just doing the same character he does in every other movie. To that extent, it worked. He looks and sounds like Kerr, which is impressive.

But if you’re going to make a movie about a movie, you need to add something. You can’t just copy it and expect us to be impressed with how accurate everyone’s portrayal is. At that point you’re not making a movie so much as doing an impression of one. Maybe “The Smashing Machine” (the 2025 version) will do more than that once we see the whole thing. But I’m keeping my expectations low for the moment.

@WorldsWorstHero: What would be your ideal PPV main card for IFW this summer?

The way things are shaping up, anything less than Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria for the UFC lightweight title would be a major letdown in the main event. That’s where we seem to be headed, which is good, because it’s a monster fight and there’s no better time to make it.

You also have Alexandre Pantoja defending his flyweight title against Kai Kara-France in the co-main. That’s the classic UFC move of throwing in a second title fight of lesser interest in order to bolster the lineup and add more gold to the poster. It’s a fine fight. It’ll probably be exciting for as long as it lasts but also probably won’t move the needle for the casual fight fan.

I think the card could use at least one extra banger, whether it means anything for any specific division or not. Normally here’s where the UFC would call up Justin Gaethje just to see what he’s up to. And honestly? Having other lightweights on the main card (just in case something happens to one of the guys in the main event) isn’t the absolute worst idea.

@DOGYEE: DP and Max are booked. What happens to the remaining 155ers? Islam/Charles/JG/Hooker/Arman?

Right now we have essentially two lightweight divisions: The one where fighters are only of interest to the extent that they’re headed up the ladder toward a title fight (Arman Tsarukyan, Mateusz Gamrot, guys like that), and the one where we know and love these fighters and would happily watch any of them fight any others at any time (Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, Dan Hooker, and so forth).

Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway at UFC 318 is a great example of the latter division. It’s for the BMF belt, so you can’t say there are no stakes, but whatever. We don’t need a physical belt to tell us what it’s about or why we should watch.

As for what happens to everyone else, I think a lot depends on the next lightweight title fight. If it’s Makhachev vs. Topuria, then the rest of the division has to sit tight and wait. A Topuria victory would give new life to a lot of the contenders Makhachev has already beaten. And a Makhachev victory (depending what happens in the upcoming welterweight title fight) would leave us with questions about whether he should stay put or seek his fortune in other divisions.

There’s a lot still up in the air at 155 pounds. It’s a good time to stay ready and keep your phone on if you’re someone in the top 10.

@EyeofMihawk: How many Eddie Halls would it take to beat a gorilla

Depends how old the gorilla is. Because against the 48-year-old version of Mariusz Pudzianowksi, who Eddie Hall also outweighed by nearly 70 pounds, he did very well. That said, it’s not like the man is a precision weapon of martial arts mastery. Really all he’s got is size and brute force, which are the main things the gorilla naturally excels at.

All of which is to say, I think 25 Eddie Halls could get the job done. Maybe 30 just to be on the safe side. But no matter what, you know it’s going to be ugly.

@titanmarsXS: If Jones isn’t ready for summer, who do you match Tom up with? Do you strip Jones at that point?

I’d give Jon Jones until the end of summer to agree to a fight with Tom Aspinall some time this year. Ideally, the fight could headline the usual fall UFC event in Madison Square Garden. If the leaves change and Jones still hasn’t signed, strip him and let’s do Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane or whoever.

But let’s be real clear: Calling Jones the “undisputed” UFC heavyweight champion requires a willingness to completely disregard what words mean. As of right now there is no more disputed title in the entire UFC. He didn’t beat the champ to become the champ, and he has not defended the belt against any top contenders. There’s literally another UFC heavyweight champion walking the earth. The title could not be any more disputed.

@BTM99_MMA: Pride style yellow cards (20% fight purse fine) for the 1st eye poke or low blow.

2nd = point & another 20%

We just stopped eye pokes / low blows overnight?

You’ll never stop them completely because a lot of those fouls are accidental and baked into a sport with fingerless gloves and leg kicks. Sometimes people are going to get kicked in the groin or poked in the eyes. The goal is to limit it while also finding a way to disincentivize it.

I’m reluctant to support anything that takes money away from the fighters since they make so little as it is, but you might be onto something with the combination of fines and point deductions.

Just taking points doesn’t do enough (though would be worth more of a try) since what does it matter if your eye pokes help you finish the fight before it gets to the scorecards? Once you go to messing with people’s money, however, you do get their attention. Let’s just make sure all that fine money goes to the opponent who got fouled. Or some sort of ophthalmology research fund.

@ewilcock: The liberals won another election up north. Care to give your reaction to the Canadian Co-Mainiacs?

First of all I’d like to say to my Canadian listeners of the Co-Main Event podcast, I love you all equally.

Second, I think there might be a couple dozen people in the entire United States who know enough to have an informed opinion of Canadian elections. I am not one of them.

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Mailbag: The Rock’s first ‘The Smashing Machine’ trailer dropped — what are realistic expectations for the Mark Kerr biopic?

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