Michael Bisping stars in Atlas King action thriller trailer

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will headline his first feature film when Atlas King arrives on digital and on-demand platforms Aug. 21.

The action thriller, whose trailer dropped Wednesday, casts Bisping as a retired mixed martial arts legend who returns home for a funeral and gets dragged back into the criminal underworld he left behind. MMA Mania reports that Bisping's character must confront a crime boss played by Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr., who now controls the city's underground fight scene.

Bisping's transition from UFC commentary to leading man

Bisping, currently a color commentator for UFC broadcasts, has appeared in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Triple Threat, and the Den of Thieves franchise, but this marks his first top-billed role. The trailer shows the UFC Hall of Famer in underground cage bouts, gunfights, and a heist sequence. Sarah Wayne Callies of The Walking Dead and Prison Break co-stars alongside George Finn, who plays a hotheaded underground fighter seeking to avenge his father's death.

Nika Agiashvili wrote and directed the film, producing alongside Bisping and Finn. The project follows a recent wave of MMA-driven cinema, including an upcoming Alex Pereira action vehicle and a planned Georges St-Pierre biopic. Atlas King releases across digital platforms in five weeks.

Original reporting:

• mmamania.com — Michael Bisping Stars In New ‘Atlas King’ Trailer | MMA Mania