As reported by The Guardian, international movie star Tom Hardy recently took part in a martial arts tournament in Milton Keynes, England – and won the whole thing.
The 45-year-old actor, best known for his role in the Mad Max: Fury Road movie, entered the 2022 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship – a competition held by Ultimate Martial Arts Championships at Oakgrove school.
Hardy was spotted at the event wearing a blue gi as he won all his matches and took the tournament by storm, ultimately winning the event. Afterwards, he posed for pictures with people who recognized him despite his humble demeanor.
“It was a real pleasure to have him compete at our event,” said a spokesperson for the tournament organizers.
The certificate was awarded to “Edward Hardy” – his real name. This isn’t the first time the actor, who is also known for the role of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, has shown up at a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition. In fact, back in August, the actor and blue belt fighter turned up at the REORG Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Wolverhampton – and he won that event, too.
“I was shell-shocked,” said one of his opponents, Danny Appleby to Teeside Live. “[Hardy] said, ‘Just forget it’s me and do what you would normally do.'” Appleby went on to say that Hardy is “a really strong guy… You wouldn’t think it with him being a celebrity.”
Hardy, who has become known for his rough and ready on-screen personas starring in Mad Max: Fury Road, Venom, and Peaky Blinder among others, even starred as both Kray twins in the 2015 biographical film, Legend, added that Bane is probably the toughest competitor he’s had.
“I’ve done about six tournaments and I’ve been on the podium in everyone,” Hardy said. “But he’s probably the toughest competitor I’ve had – he certainly lived up to his Bane character, that’s for sure.”
In a role that now hits close to home, Hardy starred as MMA Fighter Tommy Riordan Conlon in the 2011 film Warrior.
“I came back a different man from when I went away to Warrior,” he told IGN at the time. “I picked up an awful lot… the stunt team were incredible, and all the fighters that came in the other actors. It was a tremendously, potentially testosterone-fueled set of men, and it was a potentially testosterone-fueled environment that turned out not to be that bad at all. What I thought was going to be very intimidating turned out to be an incredible passage of rites. But it was very gentle, very encouraging.”
