Who's the best movie fighter ever? MMA experts weigh in

DANIEL CORMIER IS DISGUSTED. He's sitting astatine a array successful a high-back chair, and helium begins to aggressively descent his seat astir truthful helium tin truly get up adjacent and idiosyncratic astir the disdain he's feeling close now.

"That's my boy," Cormier says arsenic his seat grates against the cement. "Don't you speech s--- astir Steven Seagal. Don't you bash it."

Cormier is breathing occurrence extracurricular the Kaseya Center successful Miami, wherever helium volition bash commentary for UFC 314 backmost successful April. But astatine this moment, helium is 1 of 18 MMA experts that we tasked with a seemingly elemental question: Which Hollywood prima who has portrayed a combatant would triumph a UFC-style MMA tournament? (Spoiler alert: Seagal did not fare well.)

ESPN created 2 brackets of fighters -- 18 men, 10 women -- and presented matchups to our experts to make rankings and scouting reports for everybody from Linda Hamilton and Scarlett Johansson to The Rock and Jackie Chan. Our panelists were fixed respective weeks to reappraisal footage and fertile the actors, not their characters, astatine their implicit diversion peak. For example: They were asked to measure Ralph Macchio circa 1986's "Karate Kid II" alternatively than 2025's "Karate Kid: Legends."

Cormier hates what helium is proceeding different experts accidental astir Seagal. He takes retired his telephone and pulls up 2 videos from 2015, close earlier Cormier fought Jon Jones for the archetypal time. It's unthinkable however overmuch Seagal (6-foot-4, astir 300 pounds) towers implicit Cormier, who was 5-11, 210 backmost then.

In the archetypal video, Seagal tells Cormier successful a hushed code that helium has a determination to amusement him. This move, helium says, is truthful dangerous, truthful secretive, that lone Cormier tin spot it.

"Thin retired the gym, Daniel," helium says.

So helium does. Off camera, helium shows Cormier the move. It's a right-hand aikido onslaught to the pharynx that nary 1 has ever deed successful an existent UFC fight, and that includes Cormier. He says helium tried it 3 times against Jones and was easy swatted distant each time.

Now, Cormier pulls up the 2nd video and starts laughing. Seagal's hairsbreadth is an intolerable shadiness of black, and helium is wearing 1 of his bizarre late-stage Seagal muumuus. Seagal has a broad wrapped astir his shoulders arsenic helium sits astatine the broadside of a cage. He looks similar a toddler getting acceptable for communicative time, and Cormier begins to interruption character. He genuinely loves Seagal, but the full country is hilarious.

"Dude, look astatine him," Cormier says, incapable to fell his laughter. "He's massive. Humongous. If I had deed that 1 move, I would person won the belt."

Even with Cormier's positivity factored in, Seagal lands successful a astonishing place: 18 of 18, down Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze and Jake Gyllenhaal.

For the remainder of the results, beryllium back, enactment your feet up and drawback your coziest blankie.

The adept panel

Ben Askren, Julia Avila, Mike Brown, Bob Cook, Daniel Cormier, Randy Couture, Mac Danzig, Alexis Davis, Merab Dvalishvili, Clay Guida, Kayla Harrison, Holly Holm, Marcus Kowal, John McCarthy, Sean O'Malley, Juliana Pena, Chael Sonnen, Din Thomas

The men fighters

18. Steven Seagal

Let's commencement with the 2 nicest things that our experts had to accidental astir Seagal. First, successful his prime, helium stood 6-4 and weighed 200 pounds. Secondly, he's a legit achromatic loop successful aikido, a modern Japanese martial creation focusing connected vigor redirection and self-defense. After those positives, though, things turned disfigured for Seagal. Cormier was Seagal's staunchest defender, putting him successful the mediate of the pack. But astir each different elector had Seagal successful their bottommost five.

"Jason Statham would fold up Seagal and cleanable the level with him." -- Marcus Kowal, erstwhile Strikeforce combatant with achromatic belts successful kickboxing and Krav Maga

"Steven Seagal is bulls---. A small kid could bushed him up." -- Merab Dvalishvili, existent UFC bantamweight champion

"I deliberation Seagal is trash. There are elements of aikido that are helpful, similar feeling people's equilibrium and knowing leverage. But successful presumption of fighting, his accomplishment acceptable isn't p...