The combat sports world has another MMA movie to look forward to down the road.
According to Variety, “Strawweight” will be a full-length feature film starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and Chloe Grace Moretz, and former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is on board as a fight consultant and executive producer.
According to Variety, the film “follows the journeys of two fighters who find themselves competing against each other in the Octagon. One is a young woman (Moretz) whose life is changed forever when she discovers her passion for the UFC, while the other is a former champion (Nyong’o) who is determined to reclaim her title by reinventing herself. Both want the same thing — respect — but only one can come out on top.”
Nyong’o, 40, crossed over to major recognition in early 2014 when she took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “12 Years a Slave.” She’s been regarded as one of the industry’s best working actor’s since then and has major places in the character universes for both Star Wars and Marvel via “Black Panther.” She’s also been honored by the Emmys, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards and dozens of others and is a Tony nominee.
Moretz, who just turned 27, is no stranger to physical work. Her role as anti-hero superhero Hit-Girl in the “Kick-Ass” franchise arguably was her big break. Her resume also includes “500 Days of Summer, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “Hugo” with director Martin Scorsese, “Dark Shadows” with director Tim Burton, and “The Equalizer.”
Namajunas won the strawweight title in August 2017 with an upset knockout of Joanna Jedrzejczyk. She retained the belt in a rematch, but lost it to Jessica Andrade in May 2019. After more than a year off, Namajunas returned and beat Andrade in a rematch, though it was after Andrade lost the belt to Weili Zhang. Namajunas recaptured the title against Zhang in April 2021 and beat her in rematch, but lost the belt to Carla Esparza a little less than two years ago. Namajunas moved to flyweight this past fall, but dropped a decision to Manon Fiorot.
