Millions of fans were duped by a viral image circulating online, which seemingly showed WWE legend John Cena meeting his alleged doppelgänger. The individual in the original photo, however, was actually UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, a detail that was lost in a clever AI-powered edit.
WWE superstar John Cena recently made an appearance in Australia for the Crown Jewel event, where he competed against AJ Styles. Their match was a fan favorite, with the acclaimed 17-time world champion securing a victory in front of a capacity crowd at Perth’s RAC Arena. Interestingly, this arena also hosted UFC Perth just last month.
During his visit, Cena took the opportunity to mingle backstage with current welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, and the two posed for a photo. It was this authentic picture that was later skillfully altered and extensively shared across social media, leading to widespread confusion.
The Viral Photo: A Bizarre AI Edit of Della Maddalena and Cena
The original photograph, featuring Della Maddalena and John Cena posing together backstage, was initially posted by the official UFC Australia and New Zealand Instagram page. Soon after, fans began editing this image to depict two identical John Cenas, falsely claiming that the WWE star had met a renowned online lookalike.
One particular post on X (formerly Twitter) garnered significant attention, captioned “John Cena with his lookalike backstage last night.” It showcased what appeared to be two identical individuals. In reality, the image had been digitally manipulated: Jack Della Maddalena was replaced by a second instance of John Cena, with AI technology even used to remove Cena’s hat from the duplicated image.
This viral tweet amassed over 4 million views, successfully deceiving a large number of commenters until a Community Note eventually clarified the deception. Fan reactions were a mix of humor and astonishment; one user quipped, “When the John Cena look alike looks more like John Cena then John Cena himself,” while another joked, “Imagine being able to call in the clone instead of sick.” Although many initially fell for the prank, some sharp-eyed users eventually shared the unedited, original photograph.
In other news, Jack Della Maddalena is currently preparing for his inaugural welterweight title defense against Islam Makhachev at UFC 322, scheduled to take place next month at Madison Square Garden. Coincidentally, John Cena is also slated to make one of his final four WWE appearances at the same iconic venue shortly thereafter, marking a significant step towards his retirement from professional wrestling.
