ONE of the world's most celebrated fighters is carving out a new career as a film star after battling back from a debilitating illness.

North-East hardman Ian "The Machine" Freeman is taking a principal role in an independent film about the murky world of bare-knuckle fighting.

Entitled Sucker Punch, it also stars martial arts expert Gordon Alexander, who has worked with Jackie Chan, and Danny John-Jules, who appeared in the film Blade II and played Cat in the sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf.

"It is not going to be a martial arts movie filled with spinning back kicks and high jumps," said Mr Freeman. "It is going to be the real deal."

He was offered the role after the producers saw him in Sky One show Britain's Hardest, which he co-presented with actor Steve McFadden, former on-screen hardman Phil Mitchell in EastEnders.

Sucker Punch's writer-director, Malcolm Martin, who also worked on the Brad Pitt movie, Fight Club, said: "We wanted someone menacing and they don't come more menacing than Ian Freeman.

"He is really funny, he has us all in stitches on the set, but when he switches into character, there is no one more intimidating.

"He reminds me of a classic action hero like a 1970s Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood - he can convey a lot with just a look and a quiet word."

The cast have completed the first week's filming in London and the movie is expected to be launched in the summer.

For Mr Freeman, it marks the latest step in a varied career.

In 2003, he made the transition from winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a no-holds-barred, mixed martial arts contest, to TV presenter, on Sky show Britain's Hardest.

But just as the 37-year-old's career looked set to take off last year, he was struck down with chronic fatigue syndrome.

"I had basically burnt myself out," he said. "I had absolutely no energy and the doctors told me I had to rest."

Never one to sit back, he sought a second opinion.

"I found a doctor who was into martial arts, who put me on a structured exercise programme and diet, and it worked wonders," he said.

After time recuperating at home in Leadgate, near Consett, County Durham, he announced he was back with a bang when he reclaimed his UFC British title on November 27, last year, defeating jujitsu specialist Ryan Robson in one round.

Not content with two careers, he has launched a third, as a raconteur, talking at venues across the UK.

"People don't see that side of me when they watch me fighting. It is not jokes, as such, just funny stories and my perceptions on life, but it is going down really well.

"At the end of the day, I am an entertainer. One of the buzzes I get from fighting is entertaining the crowd."

However, his eyes are still on what he considers the biggest prize of all - the fame and fortune of a Hollywood career.

"I would love that and it would definitely mean hanging up my gloves," he said.

"At the end of the day, it is much easier work than fighting for a living."