List Rules Movies must feature mixed martial arts fighting
Over the past decade, MMA fights have risen from the underground into a legitimate sport, spawning countless pay-per-view events and a reality TV show. Two fighters in an octagon ring is considered by many to be the closest sport we have to a refined street brawl. The fighting movies on this list cover all genres, although most of them are action and dramas. As MMA becomes more entrenched in our sports culture, we can expect to see even more good MMA fight movies making their way into our theaters. Including Never Back Down, Warrior, and Undisputed, the best fighting movies are also streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.
These are films that focus on the sport of mixed martial arts as a central theme. We've also included a few other fighting movies, because they're awesome. What are the best MMA movies? What's your favorite fight movie? If there are any MMA films you believe we missed, please feel free to add them to the list yourself.
Warrior is a 2011 American sports drama film directed by Gavin O'Connor and starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as two estranged brothers whose entrance into a mixed martial arts tournament ...more
Never Back Down is a 2008 martial arts film starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet, and Djimon Hounsou. It was theatrically released on March 14, 2008. The film's tagline is "Win or ...more
Undisputed III: Redemption is the third installment to the 2002 action film Undisputed. The film stars Scott Adkins, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Mark Ivanir and Hristo Shopov, and was directed by ...more
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing is a 2006 direct-to-video martial arts film and is the sequel to the 2002 boxing film Undisputed. The film stars Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Eli Danker and ...more
5
Blood and BoneGina Carano, Michael Jai White, Kimbo Slice
Blood and Bone is a 2009 American direct-to-DVD martial arts film directed by Ben Ramsey and written by Michael Andrews. The film stars Michael Jai White, Eamonn Walker and Julian Sands, and ...more
6
BloodsportJean-Claude Van Damme, Forest Whitaker, Bolo Yeung
Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Roy Chiao, Donald Gibb and Leah Ayres. The film is partly based on unverified claims ...more
Enter the Dragon is a 1973 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Robert Clouse; starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. The film was released on 26 July 1973 in Hong Kong. He was ...more
Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown is a 2011 American martial arts film starring Evan Peters, Michael Jai White, Dean Geyer, Alex Meraz, Todd Duffee, Scott Epstein and Jillian Murray. It is a ...more
Ip Man is a 2008 Hong Kong semi biographical martial arts film very loosely based on the life of Yip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and master of Bruce Lee. The film focuses on ...more
Here Comes the Boom is a 2012 Action Comedy film written by Kevin James, Allan Loeb, Rock Reuben and directed by Frank Coraci.
11
FightingChanning Tatum, Terrence Howard, Luis Guzmán
Fighting is a 2009 sports action drama film directed by Dito Montiel, with a screenplay by Robert Munic and Montiel, and starring Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard and Luis Guzmán. It was ...more
12
KickboxerJean-Claude Van Damme, Lau Kar-wing, Haskell V. Anderson III
Kickboxer is a 1989 American martial arts film produced and directed by Mark DiSalle, and co-directed by David Worth. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and former world kickboxing champion ...more
13
LionheartJean-Claude Van Damme, Ashley Johnson, Deborah Rennard
Lionheart is a 1990 film, directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and co-starring Brian Thompson, along with Harrison Page, Deborah Rennard, Lisa Pelikan, and Ashley Johnson. ...more
Redbelt is a 2008 American martial arts film written and directed by David Mamet and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Alice Braga, Randy Couture, Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna, Emily Mortimer, ...more
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning is a 2008 Thai martial arts film co-directed by and starring Tony Jaa. It is a follow-up to Jaa's 2003 breakout film Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior. Initially claimed to be ...more
19
The QuestJean-Claude Van Damme, Roger Moore, James Remar
The Quest is a 1996 American martial arts film directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme in his directorial debut, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Roger Moore, James Remar and Janet ...more
The Transporter is a 2002 French action thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen and written by Luc Besson, who was inspired by BMW Films' The Hire series. The film stars Jason ...more
21
The Philly KidMichael Jai White, Devon Sawa, Neal McDonough
The Philly Kid is a 2012 American dramatic action film directed by Jason Connery, produced by After Dark Films, written by Adam Mervis.
22
sxmenthol added UnleashedMorgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins, Jet Li
Unleashed is a 2005 martial arts action thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier, written by Luc Besson, and produced by Jet Li. It stars Li, Bob Hoskins, Morgan Freeman, and Kerry Condon. The ...more
23
The ProtectorNathan Jones, Tatchakorn Yeerum, Jon Foo
Tom-Yum-Goong Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง, IPA: is a 2005 Thai martial arts action film starring Tony Jaa. The film was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed Jaa's prior breakout film Ong-Bak. As ...more
Fighter is a 2007 action drama world cinema film written by Nikolaj Arcel,Natasha Arthy and Rasmus Heisterberg and directed by Natasha Arthy.
25
RichardEdwardG.Lacson added FearlessMichelle Yeoh, Jet Li, Nathan Jones
Fearless, also known as Huo Yuanjia in Chinese, and as Jet Li's Fearless in the United Kingdom and in the United States, is a 2006 Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Ronny Yu and ...more
