Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson have dominated courts, rings, and screens for decades. But when they walked the red carpet at the UFC Hall of Fame event, their impact had little to do with the spotlight and everything to do with sincerity.

During a recent episode of their Pound 4 Pound podcast, Henry Cejudo shared an intriguing story with co-host Kamaru Usman and guest Dominick Reyes about what his interaction with the two global icons of sports and entertainment looked like! It began with Usman assuring Reyes that more celebrities than you’d expect are actual MMA fans, as he stated, “You’ll be surprised how many people are fans of yours and actually want to have an interaction with you.”

That’s when ‘Triple C’ chimed in with, “But yesterday, we’re in the back at the Hall of Fame, and the f—Rock comes out and he’s you know, almost plays kind of a role, I’m over here kind of just like, I had, I kind of just had my hands (crossed in front of me) like this and then he’s walking. And so I was here and he was walking into this other room.”

Cejudo then shared that he decided to go into a room to say “what’s up” to Shaquille O’Neal, calling him “Uncle Shaq” affectionately. The NBA legend had made a previous appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast all the way back in April 2024! Yet, that wasn’t his only meeting with Cejudo, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

“I wasn’t even going to say what’s up to him,” Cejudo began, describing how Johnson walked by backstage. “But then he sees me and he’s like, ‘Oh sh–, what’s up man?’ Shakes my hand, says ‘Dude, awesome!’ and walks off. And I’m just like…”

Kamaru Usman couldn’t help but laugh, joking that Cejudo probably wanted to frame the moment. He fired off a cheeky jab by claiming his co-host thought about the same hand that The Rock just shook, “I’m never washing this again!”

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But it wasn’t just Johnson who left an impression. Cejudo then shared in the podcast, “Like for me, it was just like I want to say what’s up to Uncle Shaq and Uncle Shaq’s brain is absolutely crazy but he remembered everything. That dude was like, “Oh sh—, you again?”

He confessed that he was lucky enough to share a private plane ride with the NBA legend in the past, and they had a “good time.” However, what stood out to the former UFC champion was the fact that, “And that’s’ something that we have learned from like the big time celebrities. They’re there for a f— reason, and they’re a lot smarter than what we think.”

So what’s the takeaway here? Even in a room full of legends, humility matters. The Rock, fresh off his tribute to Mark Kerr and his training for The Smashing Machine, showed love to real fighters. Shaquille O’Neal, with his signature charisma, proved memory is a mark of respect.

And speaking of memory, as mentioned earlier, the NBA legend made an appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast where he revealed how grappling and training in wrestling helped him win championships on the court!

Shaquille O’Neal revealed how “grappling” led to his multiple NBA championships

It might sound strange at first. Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most dominant forces in NBA history, credits wrestling for elevating his game? But as he explained to Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman, the connection wasn’t about flashy moves. It was about fuel.

During his past appearance on their podcast, O’Neal had confessed, “I was always losing and then my best friend in Orlando, he trained with Gracies, his name was John Burke, he teaches me this. I didn’t start winning until I started doing this.”

“This” wasn’t a new free-throw form or a post move; it was grappling. Hard, gritty, conditioning-based grappling because as the man himself put it, “But when I started doing the wrestling, that’s when I would get tired. That’s when people would say ‘he’s out of f— shape!’. No, I didn’t train to wrestle.”

That’s when he changed everything, as he further stated, “So then I said ‘do you know what? I’m not gonna do no basketball s–. All summer just doing that grappling, leglocks, knee-locks four, five, six people a day. Then I came in and easily went through the championship.”

The results spoke for themselves, but Shaquille O’Neal didn’t stop there. He stuck with it year after year. So, what ties it all together? Respect, work ethic, and a deep love for greatness, no matter the arena.

Whether it’s Dwayne Johnson humbling himself backstage at the Hall of Fame, or O’Neal grinding through grappling rounds to fuel an NBA dynasty, both icons showed that success isn’t just about fame. It’s about connection and doing the hard things when no one’s watching. And as the UFC legends pointed out, sometimes the biggest stars are also the most grounded ones!