Dwayne The Rock Johnson has always had tremendous physique. Way back in the day he played American Football. He joined the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in 1995. He was on the practice roster as a backup linebacker but was cut two months into the season.
Johnson gained mainstream fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1996 to 2004 and was the first third-generation wrestler in the company’s history.
However what many don’t know is that in about 2007 he was seriously considering going to the UFC.
Yup, I considered @ufc 10yrs ago. My goal was @GregJacksonMMA as my coach & 2 full yrs to train. Smartened up ’cause I prefer my jaw in tact https://t.co/p0Yn9n7MGq
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 23, 2017
Here’s what the Rock told UFC’s Unfiltered podcast:
“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 thought, oh well maybe UFC,” Johnson told UFC Unfiltered.
“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. 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.”
Greg Jackson coaches Gaidojutsu which combines rudimentary techniques from wrestling and kickboxing with basic judo locks. He then developed his art by adding techniques from other styles such as wrestling, grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing.
One way or another The Rock’s movie career took off so the choice ended up working out great.
