Ok, not really mixed martial arts, but an MMA legend got a shout-out in the 1989 movie Say Anything starring John Cusack and Ione Skye. I just recently re-watched the movie (don’t ask) and noticed Maurice Smith, former UFC heavyweight champion, was mentioned. In the movie, John Cusack’s character is a kickboxer, and in one scene he rattles off the names Don “Dragon” Wilson, Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, and Maurice Smith.
Obviously Maurice Smith was a dominate kickboxer prior to the sport of MMA, but I had never noticed him mentioned in the movie before. Just an interesting piece of MMA trivia.
On that same note, you probably already know about a 12-year old Chuck Liddell appearing in the 1981 movie called The Postman Always Rings Twice. If not, the video clip is shown below: