We’ve all seen stars who look like they can fight on the big screen thanks to movie magic, camera angles and carefully coreographed fight scenes, but are there any who could really hold their own if they were put into an MMA fight?
It would be easy to laugh off such a notion, but in an age when WWE superstar CM Punk made his MMA debut in the UFC, despite having virtually no athletic or combat sports background to speak of, anything is possible.
In this article we’ll look at 10 celebrity stars who could potentially make the transition to fighting in the cage, including some who are already well versed in multiple aspects of mixed martial arts.
No.10: The Rock
We’ll, be honest – of all the stars mentioned in this article, WWE wrestling superstar turned movie icon Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has the least amount of martial arts experience, but nevertheless, it’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that he could have fought in the UFC.
After all, the likes of Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashey, Jake Hager (aka Jack Swagger) and CM Punk have already made the switch across to MMA in the past with varying degrees of success.
On top of that, not only is The Rock a self-confessed fan of the sport, but he’s also actually publicly admitted that he seriously considered competing in the Octagon.
“Yup, I considered ufc 10yrs ago,” Johnson stated on Twitter in 2017. “My goal was GregJacksonMMA as my coach & 2 full yrs to train. Smartened up ’cause I prefer my jaw intact.”
‘The Rock’ has an athletic background, having been a defensive lineman for the University of Miami, but unlike Lesnar the 6ft 5″, 260lb star wasn’t an amateur wrestler.
However, that didn’t stop Greg Hardy making the transition from NFL to MMA, and renowned coach Greg Jackson believes The Rock could have been moulded into a heayweight competitor.
“I think he is a great athlete and would have had no problem with MMA at all,” Jackson told Bleacher Report. “He is very driven to be the best at whatever he does. That attitude would carry over and give him a great chance at success.”
