Harold Perrineau Enters Ring On MMA Drama ‘Brawlers’ From Executive Producer Ronda Rousey

EXCLUSIVE: Harold Perrineau (From) is set to lead Brawlers, a gritty MMA drama exec produced by retired MMA star Ronda Rousey.

Details as to the story are being kept under wraps, other than it being set against the backdrop of L.A.’s amateur MMA scene. Jonathan Fernandez will direct from his own script, in his feature debut. Andrew Carlberg and Jackie Carr are producing.

Brawlers has been awarded the California tax incentive and will shoot on location in Los Angeles.

Known for starring in MGM+’s sci-fi horror series From, which is heading into its fifth and final season, Perrineau’s credits in film include The Matrix trilogy, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, The Best Man franchise — including recent Peacock offshoot The Best Man: The Final Chapters — and post-apocalyptic horror 28 Weeks Later.

In television, Perrineau is also noted for starring in ABC’s Lost and HBO’s Oz, along with roles in Claws, The Rookie, Star, Goliath and Sons of Anarchy. He also previously starred on Broadway opposite Diane Lane in The Cherry Orchard and is repped by IAG and Jason Shapiro of Strand Entertainment.

Credited with helping to propel women’s MMA into the mainstream, Rousey was active professionally in the sport from 2011 to 2016. Her career included a dominant run in Strikeforce and UFC, six successful UFC title defenses, and a string of rapid finishes that made her a major draw on PPV.

Before becoming a UFC star, Rousey won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in that sport. She was the first UFC women’s bantamweight champion and after MMA, transitioned into WWE, where she won the Raw Women’s Championship and headlined WrestleMania 35 in the first women’s main event in the show’s history.

We broke news of a Netflix biopic on Rousey that she penned herself last summer. The status of that project, with Augustine Frizzell at the helm, is unclear. Rousey is repped by WME and Brecheen Feldman Breimer.