The discharge of Golden Globe nominations has revealed a mixed bag for combat sports.
2025 has marked an enormous 12 months for fighting biopics, with movies centered across the remarkable lives of UFC legend Mark Kerr and boxing icon Christy Martin hitting the large screen.
Kerr was played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in The Smashing Machine, while Martin was portrayed by Sydney Sweeney in Christy.
Johnson was widely praised after the Kerr biopic’s release, with many branding it a career-best performance for the previous WWE star despite the movie underperforming on the box office.
And his impressive portrayal of the MMA legend has now earned him a nomination for best performance by a male actor in a drama category. There was no such love, nonetheless, for Sweeney or UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s hit podcast.
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Joe Rogan doesn’t get Golden Globe nomination despite podcast success
Christy received mixed reviews. While Sweeney’s performance received plaudits from some reviewers, that was unable to avoid wasting the boxing biopic from bombing on the Box Office.
It took $1.3 million in North America on its opening weekend, leaving the film outside of the highest 10. A complete of $1.305 million from 2,011 cinemas meant a median of just $649 per theatre, marking one in every of the worst openings on record.
While Johnson’s performance earned a Golden Globe nomination despite box office struggles for The Smashing Machine, the identical can’t be said for Sweeney.
And that was not only a combat sports-related Golden Globes snub. The renowned Joe Rogan Experience was also ignored when it got here to one of the best podcast award.
The UFC color commentator’s podcast has been essentially the most listened to point out on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube in 2025. A lot of high-profile podcasts deemed controversial missed out despite superior listening figures, which appears to be the explanation behind Rogan’s omission.
The 83rd edition of the Golden Globe Awards takes place at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles on January 11.
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Should Joe Rogan’s podcast have been nominated for a Golden Globe?
The Joe Rogan Experience topped the charts in 2025 as essentially the most listened to podcast on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
These podcasts were chosen ahead of JRE…
- Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
- Call Her Daddy
- The Mel Robbins Podcast
- Smartless
- Good Hang with Amy Poelher
- Up First
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson reacts to his first Golden Globe nomination
While Rogan and Sweeney could also be disenchanted to have missed out on nominations, the hopes of a Golden Globes victory within the combat sports realm rest on Dwayne Johnson’s shoulders.
He has been nominated for best performance by a male actor in a drama category alongside Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams), Oscar Isaac (Frankenstein), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) and Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere).
The recent announcement marked Johnson’s very first time being nominated for a Golden Globe, and he discussed what the popularity means given the actual story he was attempting to inform in The Smashing Machine.
“I feel the nomination represents the fight in everybody, especially with addictions and people demons that you simply battle,” Johnson said (h/t The Hollywood Reporter).
“Mark Kerr had all of it and lost all the pieces, after which has since change into sober. He did overdose twice. Life is sweet because he’s sober and since he made it. Not everyone seems to be that lucky.
“That’s the movie that we desired to make: a nod to those that fight,” he added.
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