Rock Bottom straight into an arm triangle, we can see it now.
WWE legend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has revealed that he almost made the move from the ring to the octagon and we’ve all been left wondering how well he’d fare in the UFC.
Famously, Brock Lesnar took to MMA like a duck to water and claimed the UFC heavyweight title in just his fourth professional fight.
It was around the time that Lesnar had made his MMAÂ debut when Johnson started toying with the idea of moving to the UFC.
Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Johnson said:
“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?
“I was relatively still young, I think I was 34. I thought, oh well maybe UFC. Maybe I should do something like that.”
It’s not unusual for professional wrestlers to also enjoy careers as mixed martial artists, given the fact that so many start out on the amateur wrestling circuit.
We’ve seen the likes of Ken Shamrock, Bobby Lashley and Dan Severn enjoy success in both realms and, just this week, we got the updated debut date for Phil Brooks – aka CM Punk.
So why didn’t we see the famous promo-cutting skills of Johnson reach the octagon? He maintains that the desire just faded away when he realised how much time and commitment he’d have to dedicate to learning the skills.
“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,” Johnson said. “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.”
Later, on Twitter, Johnson offered another explanation for why he never made the move across from the WWE.
.. I have so much respect for the fighters and dues paid and I hate getting punched in the face.😂 #Respect #UFC200 https://t.co/R5Q4vgoJrC
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 23, 2016
