Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is facing what could be his most violent smackdown yet: the Oscar race. The first trailer for the highly anticipated The Smashing Machine, a biographical sports drama from buzzy studio A24 about mixed martial artists and UFC champion Mark Kerr (Johnson).

Dwayne Johnson plays MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the A24 biopic Smashing Machine. Will this prestige play result in an Oscar nomination?

Dwayne Johnson undergoes his most dramatic on-screen transformation yet in the first trailer for “The Smashing Machine,” a biopic about two-time UFC heavyweight champ Mark Kerr. A24 pulled the curtain back on the drama Tuesday morning. Benny Safdie, one of the two Safdie brothers who co-directed and wrote “Uncut Gems” and “Good Time,” makes his …