Dwayne Johnson often talks about how much of a UFC fan he is, now he’s actually been choked out cold for real by a mixed martial artist…
Ever since MMA became globally popular, UFC fighters have found roles in action movies. Whether it’s as stuntmen, but parts or leading roles, there’s always room for a legitimate hard man/woman’
Unfortunately, the acting skills are often sub-par, but who watches action movies for the plot anyway? Pro wrestlers also find good work on the silver screen, the most well known being Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
An avid UFC fan, Johnson has often been caught on camera at pay-per-view events. Once upon a time, Johnson was even considering a career as a mixed martial artist. Chances are he probably would’ve done better than CM Punk did.
Although Johnson never made the switch to MMA, the former WWE superstar has been rubbing shoulders with UFC fighters.
Yeah, probably not a good example…
Johnson Choked Out Cold For Real
Although movie fight scenes are scripted, Johnson decided to go off script while filming for Skyscraper. Johnson posted a statement about exactly what happened, with photo evidence to prove it.
‘The Rock’ was training with UFC veteran Jason Day, and decided to let the former heavyweight slugger put his lights out for real:
Night night. The glaze you see over my eyes as Im about to pass out is real. As is how deep this rear naked choke is sunk in by @UFC veteran turned actor/stuntman @jasonwilliamday In our action thriller #SkyscraperMovie I barely survive everything that’s thrown my way.
Including this fight. First take when Jason slapped this rear naked on me, I knew right away, holy shit, this brother is sinking it in. I thought fuck it, the more real the better, it’ll be great for the movie. After every take Jason would always ask if everything was ok with the choke. I said everything was great. Our director, Rawson Thurber called me and Jason over to the monitor to watch playback of the scene.
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Rawson and Jason were happy and felt we got it, but I said, let’s take one more crack at this. Before I walked away I whispered to Rawson, I’m gonna let him hold the choke longer, just keep shooting. After the take was done and I got my senses back and SLOWLY got up, me and Jason hugged like grateful gentlemen.
Whether or not it was a health and safety issue or not, that was pretty damn cool. Will it renew Johnson’s thoughts of becoming a mixed martial artist? Probably not, but he has a pretty awesome story to tell his kids.
Also, what a great plug for an action movie. The lead gets legitimately choked out cold by a MMA fighter, and the post about it goes insanely viral on Instagram. Great marketing, can’t wait to see it!
