Director once linked to Ronda Rousey 'Roadhouse' reboot targets MMA movie with Blake Lively

May was supposed to be the month director Nick Cassavetes finished the script for a remake of the 1980s popcorn flick “Roadhouse” featuring ex-UFC champ Ronda Rousey.

That plan was made after the movie was pushed back by production delays and Rousey’s devastating knockout by Holly Holm. But it now appears Cassavetes is headed a different direction.

Cassavetes will stay in the MMA bubble for his next project, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but Blake Lively will be front and center. Per a report, the director and star are attached to an action-drama that’s being shopped to foreign buyers at the famed Cannes Film Festival this week.

Lively plays “a single mother working two jobs and a former MMA fighter who must return to the cage in order to keep her son.” Production is expected to begin in September.

Cassavetes and Lively are repped by WME-IMG, which also reps Rousey and is the majority owner of the UFC.

Rousey’s film career took off in 2015 with appearances in “The Expendables 3,” “Furious 7” and the “Entourage” movie. She was also attached to star in “Roadhouse” and action flick “Mile 22,” but her film career cooled after the loss to Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. A comeback 13 months later at UFC 207 ended in disaster when she was knocked out by current women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes.

Rousey (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) has since stepped away from the spotlight, though she recently resurfaced on the show “Blindspot.” She also recently got engaged to UFC heavyweight Travis Browne. UFC President Dana White indicated it was unlikely she’ll return to the octagon.

Lively, the wife of action star Ryan Reynolds, recently starred in the drama-thrillers “All I See Is You” and “The Shallows,” and won a People’s Choice Award this year for Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress, topping Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt for the fan-voted honor.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.