Sherdog’s Top 10: MMA-Connected Movies

1. “Warrior” (2011)

Sibling rivalry gets the MMA treatment in Gavin O’Connor’s “Warrior.” Tom Hardy takes the lead role as Tommy Conlon, a Marine who returns home to compete in Sparta, the mixed martial arts competition with a $5 million bounty. He appears destined for the championship, but on the other side of the bracket, brother and ex-fighter Brendan (Joel Edgerton) has returned to competition in an attempt to rescue his family from financial ruin. Soon, the estranged brothers must confront one another in the ring. Hardy -- who went on to star as Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises” -- was heralded by a number of critics, including ComingSoon.net’s Brad Brevet: “He’s a beast in the ring, and the first time you see him fight, you will believe he could and would destroy anyone in his path. He’s a dark and brooding mystery, but at the core, you see a young boy that simply wants to be loved. For such a contradiction to exist in such a quiet beast of a man is a credit to Hardy.” Mixed martial artists Erik Apple, Nate Marquardt, Anthony Johnson and Roan Carneiro all appear in the film.

The Sherdog Top 10 series is voted upon by a panel of Sherdog.com staff members and contributors: Jordan Breen, Tristen Critchfield, Mike Fridley, Brian Knapp, Drake Riggs and Mike Sloan.