Recent photos of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in mixed martial arts training had some people assuming that the WWE superstar and movie actor was about to try his hand at UFC, and they were half right, because Johnson may not be gearing up for active MMA competition, but he is getting his grapple on to play a two-time UFC champ on film. Here’s what you need to know.
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Why is The Rock in MMA Training?
DJ revealed on May 6, 2024, via Instagram that he had started MMA training in order to play the role of Mark Kerr on the silver screen. “Learning, working daily — grateful grow,” read a caption accompanying some intense shots of The Rock while pictured receiving what appeared to be striking and grappling training. And, it wasn’t just “the millions, and millions” of The Rock’s fans that were excited to see the “Final Boss” mixing it up:
“Awesome,” commented UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, who was a friend and training partner of Kerr. “That’s amazing,” added Professional Fighter’s League star, Marlon Moraes. Johnson has also confirmed that the movie, written and directed by Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer, Uncut Gems), and will be distributed by A24.
Mark Kerr is the now retired wrestler and MMA star who lifted two UFC Heavyweight Championships and was a World Vale Tudo Championship Tournament winner. Kerr was a collegiate wrestling star and Pride FC competitor. His struggles with personal relationships and substance abuse were the subject of a 2002 HBO documentary; “The Smashing Machine.” Interestingly, Kerr once had dreams of becoming a legend in WWE, whereas The Rock once flirted with fighting in MMA.
Turning 52yrs on May 2, The Rock has provided further insight into his training to play Kerr, who weighed in excess of 250 pounds and was reportedly able to bench press 425 pounds (192.5 kilograms) in his younger days. Johnson is ready to work, and has only just come out of a 12-week WrestleMania training camp, before going straight into this second camp after just ten days off, to make this movie. DJ says he is now beginning his days with morning cardio. “This is a whole new world, and I approach this with a boundless amount of respect for the fighters; the men and the women, and especially the OG’s, the godfathers, like Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman, by the way … I’m working my ass off,” said Johnson on May 6, via Instagram.
Explaining his daily schedule, The Rock says that he wakes up in the morning and does 40 minutes of high-intensity interval cardio, fuelled only by around 150mg of caffeine, some amino acids, and a pro-biotic. Johnson explains that he does around 50 seconds on the stair master starting at level 14 or 15, then bringing it down to levels 7 or 8. After each round of 50 seconds, he rests for 2 minutes until he’s been going for at least 40 minutes.
The Rock then has breakfast and catches up on some work, has lunch, and returns to his Iron Paradise gym to do weight training followed by 15-20 minutes of steady state cardio. The most “electrifying” entertainer will then have a post workout shake, including 2 scoops of unspecified protein and added carb powder (35 grams of carbohydrates_. Then comes his main meal of the day, more work catchup, and then he attends evening MMA training in the cage for an hour to 90 minutes. “I’ve become a student of the game,” he says enthusiastically. “And I’m having a f*cking blast by the way.”
Shooting of the highly anticipated movie “Smashing Machine” begins in a couple of weeks, but it is not expected to be released until 2025. Hopefully we’ll get plenty more glimpses of The Rock in training, and taking part in some iconic UFC fight scenes before it premiers.
