Female MMA fighter Gina Carano is set to star in Steven Soderbergh's newest spy thriller film, "Knockout."  This will be Carano's film debut.

According to Variety, Carano will play a girl who traveled down the wrong path, but is given a second chance to use her fighting skills for good.

Variety reports that Soderbergh thinks of the film as a "flat out action film in the James Bond mold," and that filming will take place in multiple locations around the world.  The film is more akin to the film "Kill Bill" than to "Million Dollar Baby" due to the fact that it does not take place in a ring.

Production of the new film is planned to begin in late January 2010.

Relativity Media will finance the film, and a domestic distributor is expected to pick up the film quickly.

Carano has long been thought of as the top fighter of the women's MMA circuit.  She holds a record of 7-1, with her only loss coming from her most recent fight: a bout against Cristiane Santos last month.

Carano is following on the footsteps of other MMA fighters who have taken to acting.  Recently, it was confirmed that Quinton Jackson will appear in the remake of "The A-Team."  Randy Couture, Carano's teammate, has a role in the upcoming film "The Expendables."  Couture has also had a role in "The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior," and appeared in two episodes of "The Unit," and an episode of "The King of Queens" with fellow fighters Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson and Frank Trigg.