Dolph Lundgren has beaten cancer! The Swedish actor, who played the larger-than-life character, Ivan Drago in the smash hit Rocky IV opposite Sylvester Stallone is combat sports royalty at this point. Not because of his background in Kyokushin Karate, but for his memorable role as the huge and imposing Russian boxer in the film.

His journey of becoming cancer-free, however, has proven him to be a fighter in the truest sense of the word. After all, he was first diagnosed with kidney cancer back in 2015. His initial battle with the disease was a success, but alas his cancer returned five years later. In 2020, he was diagnosed again, and given only two to three years to live by his doctors.

But, like ‘Rocky Balboa’, he kept on fighting even when the battle seemed lost, to the point that he is cancer-free now. Speaking to fans in a video as he went into surgery to have a dead tumor removed, he spoke about how his battle with cancer taught him “to live in the moment and enjoy every moment of life.”

Upon learning this news, fans and Hollywood royalty took to his social media and expressed their full-throated support and appreciation for the Swedish action star.

Hollywood stars congratulate Dolph Lundgren for beating cancer

The legendary Chuck Norris was the man who inspired Lundgren to take up martial arts as a kid. In a clear case of how far pursuing your dreams can get you, Lundgren would go on to co-star with Norris in ‘The Expendables 2’ four decades later and become friends with him. It was therefore not surprising to see Norris be among the first to congratulate the Swedish star for beating cancer: “Wonderful news! So happy to hear this, Dolph. God bless”

Another one of his ‘Expendables 2’ co-stars, Terry Crews, too was ecstatic to see Lundgren get a third lease at life and simply reacted to the announcement with “🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.” Sylvester Stallone’s brother, Frank, too was glad to see Lundgren healthy once again and advised him to “Hang tough brother”

British actor Scott Adkins perhaps gave the best account of the kind of person Lundgren was. Adkins recalled the Swede starring and directing their 2021 film, ‘Castle Fall’ while suffering from cancer, but never telling anyone he was doing so: “Health & happiness to you and your family Dolph. I will never forget when we shot Castle Falls and you directed and starred whilst also dealing with this and you never made a fuss of it, never even mentioned it but got your head down and did the work regardless of all you were dealing with. You are a true warrior my friend.”

Rapper Busta Rhymes, too, took to social media to express his support for Lundgren, and applauded him for beating cancer after such a harrowing journey: “👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿.” 

Fans, too, were glad to see their favorite Rocky villain make a full recovery as one congratulated him using the title of one of his most well-known films to praise his warrior spirit: “Great news!! You are a true Universal Soldier 💪”

There were boxing analogies galore, which is unsurprising given his most well-known role. One fan simply encouraged Lundgren to “Keep punching brother.” Fans could not help but marvel at how good the Swede looked even at 67 and after a nine-year battle with cancer as one fan observed: “Still so handsome. Keep on fighting. What wonderful news. Happy holidays”.

What do you think about Dolph Lundgren beating cancer? You can go to Lundgren’s social media to tell him yourself and wish him well.