Brazilian producer Frederico Lapenda, one of MMA’s founding fathers with his WVC show, recently scored a huge coup as his drug-deal-gone-bad thriller, “Bad Guys,” starring current UFC champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson alongside Latina femme fatale Kate del Castillo, swept the BHFF winning Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Producer awards.

Lapenda has been producing movies for the past several years and working with such top entertainment names such as Pamela Anderson, Denise Richards, Daniel Baldwin and others. His movies have been very successful and several, such as “Blonde and Blonder” have been big DVD hits.

“This award is really the validation of many years of effort,” said Lapenda. “When I transitioned from producing live events to producing movies I had to make a lot of adjustments. Getting an award like this makes all the hard work and effort worth it.” When asked what the biggest difference between producing MMA shows and movies was, Lapenda quipped with a smile: “Actors may scream at you when they’re unhappy but at least they won’t beat you up.”

Lapenda is currently planning to produce an MMA movie based on his real-life experiences as one of the originators of the sport. “Bad Guys” is slated for wide theatrical release later this year.