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What’s the story?
Current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada was recently interviewed by Marc Raimondi of Cageside Seats and during the conversation, “The Rainmaker” opened up about a host of wrestling related topics and also talked about the possibility of him competing in the UFC, sometime in the future.
You can check out the interview below:
In case you didn’t know…
Initially trained by the legendary Ultimo Dragon, current and four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada made his pro wrestling debut back in the year 2004. Upon joining New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2007, Okada would go on to make his debut for the promotion when he competed and lost a singles match against Tetsuya Naito.
However, Okada, who was initially billed as a junior heavyweight, competed in several high profile matches during his tenure with NJPW as he went on to battle against the likes of Takashi Takashi Sugiura, Go Shiozaki, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto, and Tajiri.
Following his excursion with TNA Wrestling, Okada made his grand return to NJPW and immediately became the top star of the company alongside “The Ace” Hiroshi Tanahashi, who was eventually dethroned by Okada as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
The heart of the matter
While interacting with Marc Raimondi, current and four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada was seemingly asked about his chances of jumping ship to the world of Mixed Martial Arts and possibly competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to which “The Rainmaker” responded by saying that he isn’t too sure about what’s going to happen in the future and might eventually find himself competing inside the UFC Octagon, sometime down the road in the future.
While sticking to the same topic, Okada, in addition, also jokingly claimed that in the future he might even find himself fighting against WWE Legend and one of Hollywood’s biggest star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson over an Oscar award or possibly working at AXS TV instead.
Furthermore, as noted, following this week’s Strong Style Evolved pay-per-view, Okada took to his official Twitter handle and continued teasing a potential match against The Rock, when he tweeted this following photo:
What’s next?
Kazuchika Okada will defend his IWGP Heavyweight Title on the 1st of April at NJPW: Sakura Genesis 2018 against the winner of the 2018 New Japan Cup, Zack Sabre Jr.
Author’s take
Kazuchika Okada vs The Rock will be a match for the ages and will definitely break all sorts of barriers. Personally, I hope we get to witness this match sometime down the road with the IWGP Heavyweight Title on the line.
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