The Rock Considered Joining UFC After Leaving WWE
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revealed during an appearance on the UFC Unfiltered podcast that he considered transitioning to MMA in the mid-2000s when he walked away from WWE and was pursuing acting.
Johnson noted that he was at a crossroads where his movie career was floundering, and he contemplated a journey to UFC. The Rock added that the idea “fizzled out” and he stuck to acting.
“I did. I had a thought back in – well, when I was in college, I saw the first UFC that came out when I was down in Miami. So, when I quietly retired from WWE in 2004, I wanted to concentrate on my movie career. There was a time when my movies weren’t doing that well. I had a hard time finding my groove and finding what I felt like the audience really wanted to see from me. So, I was making these movies hitting singles and doubles, maybe. At that point, I was like, ‘What the f— do I do?’
“I felt like I had achieved everything in wrestling in WWE that I wanted to achieve. In my last program, it was with Brock (Lesnar). I was world champion, I dropped him the belt, he became the face of the company, and I was happy to quietly walk away. In our business, it’s called passing the torch and doing the honors.
“There was a time where I achieved everything I wanted to achieve in WWE, my movie career is floundering a little bit, what do I do? I was relatively still young, I think I was 34. I thought maybe, ‘Oh, UFC, maybe I should do something like that. I respect the sport of mixed martial arts so much, I felt like – in my head, I felt like it was still at least a two-year process to even get in the octagon, let alone UFC. I wasn’t quite too sure what to do or what kind of people to put around me at the time. So, the idea kind of fizzled out and I continued to stay on the path of movie-making. But, I’m still a big fan and love the sport. But, at one time, I did consider it.
The Rock added that he is happy for Brock Lesnar returning to the UFC and fighting Mark Hunt at UFC 200 as well as for CM Punk, who will be fighting Mickey Gall at UFC 203.
“By the way, I couldn’t have been happier for Brock when he got out of WWE and started doing MMA. Excited for CM Punk to make his debut, too. Look, anybody who is successful in one area and then commits to MMA, I feel like it’s the toughest f’n sport in the world, and I always take my hat off to those guys.”
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