Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an A-list celebrity, transitioning brilliantly from WWE professional wrestler to Hollywood action star, but that transition wasn’t instantaneous. After he officially ended his days as a regular performer in the WWE in 2004, his acting career hit a bit of a rut shortly thereafter. With an uncertain future, Johnson began considering another career…mixed martial artist.
Speaking with former UFC champ Matt Serra and comedian Jim Norton on the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Johnson spoke how he once mulled over starting an MMA career.
“There was a time there where I thought, man, I achieved everything I wanted to achieve in WWE, my movie career is floundering a little bit, what do I do,” said Johnson (h/t MMAFighting.com for the transcription and warning, some NSFW language). “I was relatively still young, I think I was 34. I thought, oh well maybe UFC. Maybe I should do something like that.”
Needless to say, it didn’t pan out.
“In my head, I felt like it was at least a two-year process for me to even get in the [cage], let alone the UFC,” he continued. “I wasn’t quite too sure what to do…so the idea kind of fizzled out and I continued to stay on the path of movie making.”
Obviously, that proved to be the right call. After hitting the skids following a ho-hum performance in 2004’s Walking Tall, Johnson rebounded with lead roles in Gridiron Gang and Southland Tales before becoming a top action star with films like Faster and Fast Five. Since then, he has starred in a number of major motion pictures and has become an action icon unto himself.
Despite his success, he still maintains close ties to both WWE (most recently appearing at WrestleMania 32 in April) and the UFC. Though things didn’t quite pan out with Johnson’s MMA career, WWE fans can look forward to UFC fights involving former world heavyweight champions Brock Lesnar (who returns to the cage at UFC 200) and CM Punk (who debuts at UFC 203), both of whom Johnson has high praise for.
“Anybody, by the way, who is successful in one area and then commits to MMA, I just feel like it’s the toughest f–king sport in the world,” Johnson said. “I always take my hat off to those guys.”
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