The Rock Knows His Role (But Won’t Shut His Mouth)

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight veteran, Nate Diaz, didn’t like the way Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was supporting longtime friend and fellow Floridian, Jorge Masvidal, after “Gamebred” captured the “BMF” title at UFC 244 in New York.

In fact, Diaz threatened to whoop his ass in retaliation.

But that didn’t rattle the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) champion, because that’s exactly the attitude that made him a fan of Diaz to begin with. And besides, he wasn’t wrong in his critique, considering Johnson’s history with Masvidal.

“I wasn’t surprised at Nate’s comments because that’s the Nate that we all know and love,” Johnson told Ariel Helwani. “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. He gets it.”

The promotion created the “BMF” title after the previous title fight between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington was shipped to UFC 245 next month in Las Vegas. That’s when Masvidal came up with the idea to have Johnson show up and handle the strapping duties.

“I went into the fight, I wanted to be as neutral as possible when I was promoting it because as we’re leading up to it and selling it on pay-per-view, I didn’t want to come out and say, ‘Jorge is my boy and he’s gonna win,’” Johnson said. “No, I just wanted to be neutral and I thought that was the best, smartest, strategic play to get as many new eyes on this fight as possible and again help impact in my own little way the bottom line. From what I’m told, since UFC’s transition it was the biggest fight they’ve ever had, second I’m sorry, to Conor and Khabib, which is quite an amazing accomplishment. I’m very proud for both those guys.”

Johnson has been a staple at local UFC events for many years and is no stranger to backstage bro-hugs. In fact, there was a point in his career where the Hollywood action star considered a transition to combat sports, then realized it was much easier to get rich doing those goofy “Fast & Furious” flicks.

For much more on the fallout from UFC 244 click here.