How to Beat Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a Fight

When it comes to fighting, size does matter. Unfortunately, not all of us are born big and have to excel more than the other guy, in order to beat the other guy who has a size advantage.

Speaking of size advantage, Dwayne Johnson is a BIG guy.

He comes in at 6 Feet and 5 Inches, 265 pounds of pure muscle. Also, he isn't just a bodybuilder who may be stiff and lacks stamina. He in fact, is the opposite of that. The Rock is an athletic human specimen who has a background in Wrestling, Football, and WWE, or fake wrestling, as some of you like to refer to it.

That will be enough to scare most people away in a less than a split second. For someone like me, a fighter by blood, its a challenge.

My team and I got into a debate about whether or not I can fight The Rock. Most of them gave me 0 % chance in winning a fight against the Rock. Out of ten fights, the best odds I got was one. Except for one of my colleagues, who has actually trained with me, said that I “will kill him” in his classic Cuban accent.

I don’t blame them, I’m 5 feet, 7 inches, and come in at 142 pounds on my best day. My background is about 10 years of amateur boxing and lifelong street fights, none of which, they have ever witnessed. So while I fought, and won, against guys of The Rock’s size, I have never actually faced someone like The Rock, a 10X’er in his own right. A guy who pushes his physical limits on a daily basis AND breaks all stereotypes of being a “meathead.”

So what’s my beef with The Rock? I don't have one, I love the guy, I just happen to think that I can kick his ass. At least when I’m in shape.

Why? He may have size, strength, and athleticism over me, I have speed, agility, and fight IQ over him.

So, all that being said, here is how I would fight Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

How to Beat the Rock, and Big Guys His Size, in a Fight if You’re Small

The Rock is a big guy, and he knows it. Not only is he big, but he can move and he can put your lights out. If you’re smaller in comparison, like myself, you’re in for an extremely tough fight, where you can't relax for not even a split second until it’s over. So first let’s start with the requirements to fight someone like The Rock:

1. You need stamina. You better be in shape and be fast for the entire fight no matter how long it is.
2. You better be quick with your feet because you will have to cut the distance and get out to avoid being grabbed(and slammed).
3. You have to have punching power. It takes a certain amount of force to knock a human being out. It takes even more to knock a guy like the Rock out, and you better have that force.

Now if you don’t have those things, you better work on them if you ever plan on fighting someone bigger than you.

Let’s get into how to fight The Rock.

A guy like the rock is going to do one of 3 things.

1. He’s going to Rush you with a two piece, whether it be two hooks or jab straight combo.
2. He is going to try to end the punch with his power punch, right hand if he is orthodox.
3. He is going to bait you to come in first so he can put your lights out or grab you.

Most of you guys will probably say “he will rush you and take you down.” From my experience, this doesn't make sense. The bigger guy usually won't, and shouldn't, go for a double leg because that puts him in a vulnerable spot. A bigger man going for a double leg creates the same disadvantage as the smaller man has on their feet. When they go low you can see them coming from a mile away, which gives you an opportunity to step back and strike.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s discuss how to navigate each of the 3 scenarios. Let’s preface this by saying the Rock and I are squared up and ready to do battle, and not a sucker punch scenario on either end.

Before we get into it, I should mention that if you hit hard enough, no human being will be able to “run” through your punches. The less experienced bunch of you will also say “he will just sit on you and kill you.” Not how fights work guys. Everyone has a face that they cannot train, and no human, no matter the size, can walk through a trained fighters strikes nonchalantly. So I don’t think anyone would take the risk of just rushing in, and if they do, the fight is that much easier.

In this case, I know that The Rock has been in his share of fights so he has the experience to know what not to do.

All that being said, let’s fight.

Scenario One: The Two Piece

In the first case, most big guys will try to get you out of there with a two piece. The first punch will be a little faster, this way they can touch with it and find the range for the second one. The second one is also meant as a sleeper, where as the first one might just rock you, the second one is meant to put your lights out for the night.

They will come as either hooks or straights, in either case, it works to your advantage. See, when you're the smaller guy, especially speaking of height in this sense, your biggest challenge is cutting the distance. In this case, when they throw the first strike, they cut some of it for you. Because you will be more agile, you need to take advantage of this and try and end the fight.

What you're going to do is:

1. Parry the jab, or pull back if its a left hook
2. Step into him and duck left out of the way of the right hand.
3. Then switch positioning so that you’re not at his chest but instead facing his side by swinging your back foot out and away from him, then throw a right hook directly at his mouth.

You’re basically going to attempt to do what Tyson did here, but with the opposite hand and in the opposite direction. Also you will be stepping into him given he isn't swinging his whole body.

If you don't connect, get the f**k out. If you do connect, you absolutely have to finish the fight. Once you feel your fist land, follow up with a concession of HARD punches and end it if you can. When a guy outweighs you by 120 pounds, you do not want the fight to last because it provides him with more opportunity to put you out.

Scenario 2: The One Hitter Quitter

Most big guys, when they will see how they tower over you, will be confident enough to think that they can end it in one blow. This will make things a little easier for you. What your opponent, in this case my opponent, The Rock, will want to do it is throw his power shot and put my lights out. He would be right in thinking that he can. A blow from a man of that size, that knows how to use his his weight, is dangerous. So you better have fast enough reflexes to not get caught, and when you step in, have the power to make sure you put him out, and if you miss, you better have the agility to get the hell out before he grabs you.

Here is how it goes down.

When he throws his power shot, in this case the right hand, you have to immediately duck left and step in at the same time and fire off an over hand winging right. It will be a lot like the punch Marquez landed on Pacquiao, except here you will be stepping in closer to cut the distance. You will also need to throw your right hand so that the front two knuckles, nearest to the thumb, are the ones landing. Because you are aiming up, you wont get enough leverage on a proper right hook. The straight right won't deliver enough momentum so you will have to throw your whole body into the over hand right, twisting it at an angle. If it lands, even if it does the job,  follow it up with a left hook which has to end the fight like your life depended on it. You don't want to leave anything up to chance.

If it doesn't land, rinse and repeat for different punches. You will basically be following the law of the intercepting fist here.

Scenario 3: Don't Take the Bait

The smartest thing that he can do, would be to try and bait me to strike first. Why? As the smaller man in the fight, I have to cut the distance in order to get to him. If he throws first, he helps cut some of that distance for me, which allows me to step in with intercepting counters while he is mid attack. However, if just steps back and waits on me, he will be able to see me coming from a mile away. If you’re the big guy in the fight, this is what you want to do.

If this is the case, things get harder. What I would have to do now is to feint and see how he reacts to my strikes before I lunge. What he is doing is baiting, what we want to do is bait him instead.

The first thing you want to do is throw your jab feint, see if he responds. If he responds by throwing his right, or even feinting his right shoulder just a bit, This means he is ready to counter you. So on the next go around, you want to throw the counter from scenario one or two.

However, if there is no response, what you want to do is jab his body. Make it hurt, make it annoying and make him get out of character. Keep popping the jab to the body. You want to hit the body because it is the shortest distance for you and it is a punch you can land on him while still staying out of range. The whole purpose of this is to get him to try and time you. Once you see him trying to pick his shot, feint the jab to the body, duck out the way of the next strike and follow the steps in the last two scenarios to try and get him out of there. If he is still standing, rinse and repeat.

Fighting a Bigger Man Doesn't Mean You Lose

A lot of people discount fight IQ and use size as a tell tale factor of how a fight is going to go. I’m here to tell you that is not.

Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that a fight can never go as you plan it to go. However, if you practice and train accordingly, the odds will be more in your favor. When I’m in shape, I feel like I’m the best fighter in the world. That is because I train my body to be able to do what the mind knows it has to, and train my mind to be able to push my body to its limits.

So yes, I am much smaller than Dwayne Johnson, and this guy is an absolute monster, but this doesn't mean the odds aren't in my favor if we ever fight.

Learn and Grow

Take this post as educational material for your workouts. I love the Rock, and respect the man, which is why I see him as a challenge despite him not being a professional fighter. Fighting a guy like him is just plain dangerous, and you want to make sure you're ready for something like this, especially if you're the smaller guy.

Drop me a comment below and call me crazy.

Brawl all day!!!