Tom Hardy Stuns Crowds As He Enters A Martial Arts Championship And Takes Home Gold

The Venom actor, Tom Hardy, showed off his strength, participating in the UMAC Milton Keyness BJJ Open 2022 at Oakgrove School in Milton Keynes. It’s said the 45-Year-Old secretly arranged to participate in the fight through a local school sports hall and floored all his opponents. 

Hardy, as seen in photos from the fight, looked action ready and showed off his jistu skills. 

Crowds couldn’t believe their eyes when Hardy stepped out in a blue jiu Jitsu gi, which showed his toned physique and tattoos. The fighter, who already holds a high-level blue belt in the ground-fighting combat sport, reportedly made short of work of the competition as he won gold with an incredible arm bar. 

Hardy posed with his gold medal and certificate, which had his full name, but he commonly goes by his middle name Thomas. 

His opponent was Andy Leatherland, 42. He alleged the actor brought the same level of intensity to the fight as he does to his action films. The sales manager and blue belt added he had entered the local event after realizing that Hardy might be there. He explained: “I knew he fought in the last competition locally and won two gold.”

Andy continued: “I knew at that point that I fitted into his category – I was the same age, belt, and weight as him.”

“We used to joke that if he was to fight, I would be the one to fight him, but I didn’t think anything of it. I was contemplating the Milton Keynes tournament as it was very local. And then one morning – he goes by the name Edward Hardy – I saw that he’d actually signed up.” Andy insisted Hardy was sound when they chatted after the fight and admitted he found the marital arts competitions nerve-wracking. 

When asked if he’d fight Hardy again, Andy said: “I would, absolutely.” 

According to the event description, it was open to all BJJ belt levels in adult, juvenile, and kids divisions. Sean Rosborough, who sponsored the fight, said the organizers knew the global megastar [Hardy] would be coming but kept his appearance to themselves to stop masses of people distracting him. He added that Hardy was brilliant with fans who approached him for photos, and mums in the audience were also all over him.

One of Hardy’s opponents [unmanned] said he recognized Hardy straight away, saying he was shell-shocked. 

“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.” However, Hardy had gotten into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when he trained for the film warrior, where he played the character of a former boxer who qualified as an MMA Fighter.