One of the most interesting figures in Mixed Martial Arts history is coming to the big screen.
Variety recently announced that a biopic about Georges St-Pierre is currently in development.
“We have been considering telling my story for a moment now, and when we found this team it was clear to us that we wanted this to be told in a new creative way,” the multi-time UFC welterweight and middleweight champion said in a statement.
According to Thomas Soto, the Quebecois filmmaker who has signed on to direct, this film will explore St-Pierre’s history both in and outside of the Ocatgon. “I want to tell the story of Georges behind GSP in a way that feels intimate, honest and deeply human. To me, bringing that story to the world is both a privilege and a responsibility,” he said.
The project is still in its early stages. It sounds like it will be a while before we get more details about the plot, cast, and title. But here are 10 martial arts and combat sports-related biopics to keep us busy while we wait for GSP’s life story to get the Hollywood treatment.
Ali
It would take a whole series of films to properly explore Muhammad Ali’s life and his contributions to boxing — and the world in general. But this 2001 film starring Will Smith and directed and co-written by Michael Mann does a great job of tackling a specific era in his greater story. Following its title character from his history and career-making win over Sonny Liston in 1964 to the famous 1974 Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman, Ali is a portrait of the greatest of all time in his prime.
Christy
It girl Sydney Sweeney traded glamor for gloves when she stepped in the ring to play American women’s boxing trailblazer Christy Martin. This 2025 drama follows Martin through the highs of her history-making rise to the top of the boxing world in the 1990s and some of the struggles she’s faced both in and out of the ring.
Cinderella Man
In this Oscar nominated drama based on a true story, Russel Crowe plays Irish American boxer James J. Braddock, a light heavyweight prospect who fights his way back from a career-ending injury to he top of the American boxing world during the great depression.
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Hollywood really loves a good boxing biopic. We’ve got a few more of them coming up on this list. But there are some good films that explore the life and times of fighters who train and compete in other disciplines, too. For example, Jeet Kune Do and its founder, the legendary Bruce Lee himself, got the inspired-by-a-true-story treatment in this 1993 drama about Lee’s rise to stardom as a martial artist and actor.
The Fire Inside
Biographical dramas are often reserved for historical figures and people in the later stages of their lives and work. But when you’re as accomplished as boxer, mixed martial artist, and Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields, you can get the biopic treatment while you’re still the pound-for-pound best active women’s boxer in the world. This 2024 drama starring Ryan Destiny celebrates Shields’s significant triumphs in the ring without shying away from the significant challenges she’s faced to while working toward those victories.
The Hurricane
Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter was a middleweight boxer on the verge of greatness when he was wrongly charged and convicted of murder in 1966. This 1999 drama starring Denzel Washington as The Hurricane tells the story of how a group of activists helped to free him and clear his name. The movie also did its part to introduce new generations of boxing fans to his work and bring Carter a little bit of the recognition and celebration that was denied to him for so many years.
Ip Man
It’s not the most accurate or realistic film on this list and it’s technically more of an action film than a biographical drama, but this instant classic that launched an entire franchise is too good to ignore. Even if it takes a number of liberties with the Wing Chun grandmaster’s story, it does his martial art and his teachings proud. And Donnie Yen, a martial arts legend in his own right, shines in the tile role.
Mary Kom
Mary Kom is a barrier-breaking legend at home in India and one of the most decorated pugilists in the world today. She holds eight world championship medals — which is more than any other man or woman in boxing — and a bronze from 2012 Olympic games. It would take at least an entire television season to properly track all of her achievements, but this 2014 biopic starring Priyanka Chopra does a good job of presenting her journey to the top of the 2008 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.
Raging Bull
Robert De Niro was so fascinated by former middleweight boxing champ Jake LaMotta’s memoir that he recommended it to Martin Scorsese. The legendary director wasn’t much of a boxing fan at the time and wasn’t sure he was the person to make this kind of film, but he eventually saw the light. And made a serious contender for best boxing film of all time.
The Smashing Machine
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was so committed to his portrayal of UFC veteran Mark Kerr in last year’s The Smashing Machine that he actually took up mixed martial arts training as part of his preparation. He even trained with the real Mark Kerr.
