If the UFC was huge 20 years ago, The Rock would have done MMA
In 2013, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was the actor with the highest grossing movies in the world with parts he played in four films including two box office smashes — 'Fast and the Furious 6' and 'GI Joe: Retaliation.'
Prior to his work in film, Johnson was an accomplished professional wrestler for the World Wrestling Entertainment and still remains one of the most popular and talked about sports entertainment athletes in the history of the promotion. Before turning to wrestling, Johnson was a well-known football player at the University of Miami as well as a brief stint in the Canadian Football League.
In other words, whatever Johnson puts his mind to he seems to accomplish it.
So it's interesting to hear that if you rewind his life to 20 years ago and the UFC was a global powerhouse like it is today, we might be discussing Johnson has one of the greatest heavyweight fighters in the history of the sport.
"If the UFC were as popular as it is today and I had the opportunity to make money in the UFC, if it was as popular back then as it is today, I would have easily done that and gotten involved in MMA," Johnson said in a recent interview while doing media for his new film 'Hercules.'
"I enjoy going to the fights and the energy. I enjoy that."
At 6'5" tall and routinely walking around in excess of 260 pounds, Johnson's frame would have been perfectly built for a UFC heavyweight and given his gifted athleticism there's no telling how far he could have gone in the sport.
Alas, the UFC became popular about 15 years too late to secure Johnson's services. Still, the former WWE champion looks at the UFC as his favorite sporting event outside of football, which still holds the biggest part of his heart after competing there for so many years.
"The best sports experience of my life have been the UFC events I attend," Johnson said. "Because the action is phenomenal, the combat's phenomenal, I've always been a big fan of the UFC since I was 19 or 20 years old."
