Among the MMA fighters who became actors are Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Bob Sapp, George St-Pierre, Quinton Jackson, Oleg Taktarov, Gina Carano, Cung Le, Randy Couture and Ronda Rousey. It would not be surprising if Filipino-American fighter Mark "Mugen" Striegl followed their footsteps.
In a recent interview with Yibada, Striegl was asked about what kind of movie he would like to star in if he became an actor. He replied, "An action movie would probably be more up my alley coming from fight sports, coming from mixed martial arts."
On the other hand, Striegl clarified that he would not want to be limited to action movies only. "I'd be more comfortable jumping and kicking on screen than, you know, romancing, I guess, although, you know, I'm up for any kind of challenge."
It would be interesting to see Striegl star in an action flick opposite Mark Wahlberg, who starred in the 2010 sport drama film "The Fighter." The former is often told he looks like the latter.
From 2009 to 2015, Striegl won 14 out of 16 MMA fights. His most recent win was against Casey Suire at ONE Championship: Valor of Champions via rear-naked choke submission on April 24, 2015.
Currently residing in Baguio City, Philippines, Striegl was born in Tokyo, Japan, to an American father and a Filipino mother. Le, his fellow Asian American MMA fighter, is set to star in the 2017 action thriller film "Security" with Chad Lindberg, Ben Kingsley, Gabriella Wright and Antonio Banderas.
Rousey, the number two female bantamweight fighter in the world, is set to star in the remake of the 1989 action thriller film "Road House" starring Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch and Sam Elliott. There is still no confirmed release date for the remake, which will be directed by Nick Cassavetes.
In 2011, Rousey made her acting debut in the action film sequel "The Expendables 3," which was directed by Patrick Hughes. Her co-stars were Couture, Banderas, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Robert Davi, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Watch a clip of the interview with Striegl here: