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The Rock opens up on sparring with heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk for new MMA movie
Wrestling legend Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has revealed what it was like to share a movie set with undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Johnson stars in a new film named The Smashing Machine, which looks back on the career of former MMA star Mark Kerr, and was required to engage in fight scenes with Usyk.
Johnson had nothing but praise for the Ukrainian boxing great but admitted he quickly became aware that he could not afford to mess around after Usyk switched into fight mode.
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"First of all, amazing guy,” Johnson said of Usyk on talkSPORT. “Beautiful soul and open, and beautiful stories he would love to tell us.
“The first time I lock up with Usyk, we’re full on locking up and we went through the full fight scene, he and I. And I knew then, when I felt his embrace in this lock-up, I knew this is a bad dude.
“Some dudes look like ‘oh, that guy’s a killer’. His body and s***, right? And some dudes like Usyk can be a little deceptive because of how he looks. But when he locks up, that deception becomes reality. You could feel it in his legs and in his base.
“And then we start sparring at the top of our fight, a couple of jabs out there. He is so fast. And you know, if one of these punches slips, I’m going to the hospital!”
Since stepping up to heavyweight, Usyk has been the smaller man in all his fights with Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois.
However, he has held his own physically to establish himself as the dominant force in boxing’s blue-riband division.
Usyk has stayed in prime condition throughout his career and is still going strong as he approaches his 39th birthday.
But Johnson and his co-star Emily Blunt revealed he was happy to help himself to one specific sweet treat during filming.
“He wanted to eat cake all the time,” Blunt said. “The lovely PA would be like ‘Alex, we do need to get the fake sweat on you again’ and he hated the fake sweat. He was like ‘why?’ He didn’t understand continuity.
“And she was like: ‘if I get you some cake, will you do it?’ And he was like ‘yes.’ And so they’d get him some cake.”
Usyk is currently taking a break from the boxing ring while he recovers from a back injury. He has not fought since winning his rematch with Dubois in July, and is not expected to return until 2026.
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