This is why Dwayne Johnson, known as “The Rock,” is sticking to Hollywood instead of pursuing a career in MMA.
Dwayne Johnson, aka “The Rock”, needs no introduction as he is one of the most famous people not only in the United States but also around the world. Recently, Johnson revealed on the show “The Joe Rogan Experience” that he considered changing his career to MMA, but that didn’t happen. As a former WWE Champion, The Rock achieved important milestones in his professional wrestling career despite thinking he would never make it in WWE. He later attracted the attention of Hollywood. Find out why The Rock chose to stick with a career in Hollywood, even though he once considered becoming a mixed martial artist because of the money.
Why Dwayne Johnson, ‘The Rock’ Ditched MMA for Hollywood?
On a recent episode of JRE, “The Rock” said he thought he would never make it in WWE in 1997 because he was booed throughout the arena. Additionally, the salary he received was relatively low compared to the income of MMA fighters. His annual salary was $150,000 while MMA fighters earned twice that amount. This caused him to seriously consider changing his career.
He explained: “The guys who are making $250,000, $350,000, $500,000 in Pride (Japanese promotion) are not going to create the kind of crowd that’s going to be in the arena in WWE. I thought no.I talked to Kid Shamrock. I ran to Mark Carr. I started talking to him and he told me about Pride. .And then I got this idea in my head that maybe I should be proud of training mixed martial arts and making money.”
While he said he wanted to enter the MMA field for money and other reasons, he revealed why he chose not to enter the Octagon in 2016. During an interview, the Hollywood actor spoke about why he chose to stick with his Hollywood career despite the UFC’s interest in his Octagon. In a 2016 tweet, he said he hated getting punched in the face and that was the reason he didn’t join the UFC.
Although The Rock never became a UFC fighter, he competed in the UFC several times and even brought the BMF belt to the Octagon. After officiating the Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz fight and making several appearances in the UFC, he’s now taking Hollywood by storm with blockbuster movies, proving his decision to step away from MMA was the right one is proven.
