Who Is Mark Kerr? Meet the MMA Fighter Who Inspired Dwayne Johnson’s ‘The Smashing Machine’

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson completely transformed into fighter Mark Kerr for the biographical sports drama The Smashing Machine.

Johnson committed to the role so much, he sat in the makeup chair for several hours each day to apply over a dozen prosthetics to his face.

“I just sat in front of that mirror for three to four hours and watched it all change. There were about 13 or 14 different prosthetics. Subtle, yet I think very impactful,” Johnson told Vanity Fair of the transformation in August 2025.

But for the WWE superstar, portraying Kerr wasn’t just about looking the part, it was a matter of embracing the highs and lows of the mixed martial artist’s life and career.

“By the time I got to set, I was Mark Kerr and I felt it, from how he walked to how he talked and how he looked at life … If Emily [Blunt] and I weren’t best friends, I don’t know that we could’ve gone to the places we went to,” Johnson said of Blunt, who played Kerr’s now ex-wife, Dawn Staples, in the film. “That closeness created the trust, which then allowed for the vulnerability, which then allowed for us to go anywhere.”

Johnson’s costar Ryan Bader praised him for giving his all to portray Kerr in the Benny Safdie-directed project.

“He walked like Mark Kerr, he talked like Mark Kerr,” Bader exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2025. “He had his mannerisms, his soft voice. Before one scene in the movie, I walked into a locker room and he’s sitting there. You know, everybody has their own way of preparing and getting into the role before a scene. He’s in the locker room, gloved up, about to walk out. I walk in and he’s just dead behind the eyes.”

The martial artist added, “He’s in his own head. Thousand-yard stare. I’m like, ‘This feels real. This man feels like he’s about to go fight.’ I got the chills because I’ve been there 43 different times. It’s a very lonely place when you’re about to walk out in front of fans in your underwear and go fight another trained human in a cage.”

Johnson’s performance has been widely praised, generating Oscar buzz as many wonder how the story of The Smashing Machine compares to Kerr’s real-life MMA experience.

Scroll below for everything to know about Kerr following the release of The Smashing Machine:

Mark Kerr Is a Retired MMA Fighter and Wrestler

Ohio-born Kerr was a member of his high school wrestling team and continued to wrestle throughout college. He later made the transition to the MMA community, making his debut in 1997 at the World Vale Tudo Championship 3. Kerr was called “The Smashing Machine” by a Brazil media outlet after defeating three opponents at the tournament with his aggressive fighting style and large stature. He proceeded to be introduced as “The Smashing Machine” in fights moving forward.

Following his success at the Tudo tournament, Kerr made his UFC debut that same year. His professional record stood at 15-11-0, with two UFC Heavyweight Tournaments under his belt before he retired from the sport in 2009.

He Was Inducted Into the UFC Hall of Fame

Kerr earned a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame in June 2025, with Johnson presenting him with the award at the Las Vegas ceremony.

He Was Married to Dawn Staples

Kerr wed Staples in 2000. She is a former Playboy model, real estate investor and interior decorator, per her Instagram bio. During their marriage, they welcomed son Bryce. They split in 2006, per Time Magazine.

Staples is portrayed in The Smashing Machine by Blunt. Kerr’s ex attended the Toronto Film Festival premiere of The Smashing Machine in September 2025. “Feeling like a star at the Toronto film festival!” she captioned a series of photos from the event posted via Instagram, posing with Johnson, Safdie and Blunt, as well as Blunt’s husband, John Krasinski.

Mark Kerr Is Currently Married to Franci Alberding

Kerr married his current wife, Franci Alberding, in 2023. Together they own a company called Absolute Wellness, which offers “transformative programs, from expert-led group fitness to personalized coaching and holistic practices like meditation and massage,” per the official website.

Mark Kerr Has Peripheral Neuropathy

Kerr revealed he was suffering from peripheral neuropathy in 2016. The condition happens when “the nerves that are located outside of the brain and spinal cord (peripheral nerves) are damaged,” per Mayo Clinic.

Symptoms can include “weakness, numbness and pain, usually in the hands and feet. It also can affect other areas and body functions including digestion and urination.”

He Opened Up About His Drug Use

Kerr has been candid about his past substance abuse issues, which admittedly put a strain on his marriage to Staples.

“What I was doing at the time was incredibly selfish. Dawn just wanted my love. She wanted to feel important,” he told Time Magazine in September 2025. “The only thing important at the time was me fighting, then the second thing that came in importance was the drug and alcohol use. A lot of that volatility was because of my actions. I look back on it now, she’s a little girl asking to be loved, and I’m just a little boy that doesn’t know how to accept or give it.”

Kerr said he began relying on painkillers for injuries and aches he suffered in the ring.

“The genesis of all this for me starts back when I was fighting and just the amount of pressure I was putting on myself to perform and, you know, not to seek healthy ways to do rehab for my body,” he said in a clip shared via YouTube in February 2019. “Wanting the instant relief of a sore shoulder. Take a couple Vicodin, I can train later on that day. Take a couple Vicodin, I can go to the gym later on.”

After retiring from fighting, Kerr focused on getting sober for the sake of his son.

“I’ve been sober for seven years now, and that took me a minute, because that’s a reckoning. I recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of body and mind,” he said. “It took my son saying, ‘Dad, do you think you can stop drinking?’ I bounced around a couple different car dealerships trying to figure things out. It just wasn’t clear that I have, as an individual, so much more to offer than just this little tiny parcel of me that I was giving out to the world.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline