Dwayne Johnson was a guest host at UFC 244 and he presented Jorge Masvidal with the BMF title. Johnson also spent some time with Masvidal after the match and sent a message to him on Instagram. That did not sit well with Diaz who called out Johnson after the match, but how did Johnson respond? The former WWE star recently spoke to Ariel Helwani of ESPN and was not upset about Diaz’s comments because he knows that’s how he operates.
“I wasn’t surprised at Nate’s comments because that’s the Nate that we all know and love,” The Rock said. “He is as advertised. Nate, he gets it. He knows that me and Jorge we’re boys, we’re from Miami. We have a lot of deep connections down there. A lot of the fighters we know, a lot of the coaches and trainers that we know, a lot of the gyms that we’ve been to down there. So there’s a connection, so no I was totally fine with it.”
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In Diaz’s defense, he did show some love to Johnson after he went on a tirade. He said, “The Rock’s cool. I like ballers. But he picked the wrong side so he can get his ass whipped too.” Before that, Diaz said, “F— The Rock too, (he’s) over here playing me, smiling with Masvidal.”
Because Masvidal won and they are from Miami, it only made sense for Johnson and Masvidal to hit it off from the beginning. The Ballers actor told Helwaini what he told Masvidal backstage.
“I congratulated him of course and I talked to him about what this opportunity meant and how this BMF title that is somewhat polarizing in the sport of MMA — some guys were behind it and some guys weren’t — but again, this is this unique experience that kind of transcends weight divisions and the sport because it has such street cred,” Johnson said. “There’s incredible champions who are incredibly disciplined and skilled in multiple disciplines of MMA, and then there’s the BMFs. So I was very happy for Jorge.”
Johnson now moves on to his career in movies as Jumanji: The Next Level hits theatres on Dec. 13 and then Jungle Cruise will be released on July 24, 2020. The former wrestler turned actor has also signed on to play former UFC fight Mark Kerr in an upcoming film.
