Aronofsky movie: the cagefighting crook

The story of one-time UFC fighter Lee Murray is so crazy it should be made into a Hollywood movie, which is exactly why director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) is planning to do exactly that.

Not familiar with Murray? Here’s the short version. Murray is a former professional MMA fighter whose only UFC fight was a submission win over Jorge Rivera at UFC 46 (although he’s better-remembered for entering the cage dressed like Hannibal Lecter). His last fight was a unanimous-decision loss to Anderson Silva at Cage Rage 8: Knights of the Octagon in 2004. He once beat Tito Ortiz unconscious in a street fight outside a London nightclub and he was stabbed repeatedly outside another London night club in 2005 and nearly died on the operating table.

In 2006, he took part in the biggest cash heist in history when he and his crew stole $92 million from the UK-based Securitas AB. He was arrested in Morocco, where he is a citizen, and sent to prison for drug possession while awaiting extradition back to the UK. In June of this year, Murray both attempted a prison break and failed and was released from prison following a failed extradition hearing only to be immediately re-arrested at the request of British authorities who want to see him tried for the robbery in Morocco.

Like I said, it’s so insane that it’s almost impossible to believe. I’m curious whether Aronofsky plans on focusing on the heist thriller aspect or whether he’ll also play up his fight career (given Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, I suspect he’ll try to balance the two).