Jennifer Lopez's menacing boy toy in The Boy Next Door is hoping to scale the heights of Hollywood quickly, so he can return to cage fighting.

Ryan Guzman, 27, was a promising mixed martial arts fighter before he started landing film and TV roles, but he admits he hasn't given up on his tough sporting dreams.

He tells Latino-Review.com, "That's a big, big passion of mine. I still train today. I hope that eventually to be successful enough to take time off and get back into MMA to do some fights.

"I love it... Hopefully I'll be fighting in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). That was my dream. I would like to be fighting in the UFC if I wasn't an actor now.