Tom Hardy picks up another jiu-jitsu title
Actor Tom Hardy has once again proved that the tough guy he characterises in many of his roles isn't just an act, by winning another jiu-jitsu tournament.
Hardy, best known for roles in the Dark Knight Rises and Peaky Blinders, as well as the title roles in Venom and Mad Max, entered his first tournament in Wolverhampton last month.
One opponent even worried that the actor was going to break his arm from a hold, if he didn't tap out beforehand, with the 45-year-old going on to take gold.
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And last Saturday, September 17th, the actor was back in action in another tournament, this time at Oakgrove School in Milton Keynes, not exactly where you'd expect to see the star of the silver screen.
He entered the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship at the tournament and once again the London born actor came out on top.
Sean Rosborough, who sponsored the event, said the organisers found out the Warrior star would be coming to the school a few weeks before the event.
They kept the news to themselves to make sure that there weren't loads of distractions for those competing in the tournament, with members of the public turning up.
Rosborough said: "We found out he was coming probably a couple of weeks before.
"But the organisers kept it to themselves - and didn’t want masses of people turning up distracting him from what he was doing.
"He was brilliant. A lot of people were asking for photos, and coming up to him, and he had no problem with that all.
"The mums were all over him. It didn’t bother him.
"We tried not to bother him too much. We didn’t pap him to bits. We just tried to keep it as normal as possible for him. I think he had a good time."
He continued: "When he was fighting, he was focused on what he was doing. He’s amazing at Jiu-Jitsu."
Hardy's impressive skills probably came from training in the sport during the filming for Warrior, in which he played a boxer who turns his attention to MMA.
One of his opponents spoke to MK Citizen and it seems like he may have been a bit put off by facing up against Alfie Solomons.
"I was waiting match-side for the semi-final when Tom showed up. I didn't know he was going to be there. And they expected me to remain composed," the opponent said.
"I recognised him straightaway. Everyone knows who Tom Hardy is, don't they? I was shell-shocked. He said 'just forget it's me and do what you would normally do'.
"He's a really strong guy...You wouldn't think it with him being a celebrity.”
Ryan Sidle