“Real beast.” The Rock Johnson spoke about being in the ring with Usyk during filming

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Oleksandr Usyk crossed paths on the set of The Smashing Machine, where the American played legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr, while the undisputed boxing world champion portrayed his compatriot Igor Vovchanchyn. Johnson had to experience Usyk’s strength firsthand.

Details: The Rock emphasized that he immediately realized the Ukrainian’s danger, even though at first he seems quite simple.

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Quote: “Benny said: you have great stunt doubles, but I want you to do it yourself. Which meant I had to mix it up with these guys and get my a** kicked. The first time I locked up with Usyk, we went through the whole fight scene. I knew then, when I locked up with him and I felt his embrace in this lock up. I knew this is a bad dude.

Usyk can be a little deceptive, just how he looks. But when he locks up, that deception becomes reality because I'm like ‘oh this is a bad guy.’ You could feel it in his legs and in his base. We started sparring, a couple of jabs out there, and he is so fast. And I knew: if one of these punches slips, I'm going to hospital,” Johnson told talkSPORT.