Tom Hardy, the 45-year-old Academy Award-nominated actor, is a man of many talents.
This past weekend, Hardy, who discovered his love for the gentle art while filming the 2011 movie Warrior, attended a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition in England and managed to secure wins in all of his matches. He won his finals matchup and was awarded a championship in his division.
Hardy uploaded a post to Instagram shortly after winning the competition, detailing his relationship with the sport and why he competes.
“Addiction is difficult and complex stuff to navigate; as is mental health. Subjects which are both deeply personal for me and extremely close to my heart,” Hardy wrote. “It is an honour to be able to represent the charity and my team REORG and the great work they do supporting the mental health and well-being of veterans of service, military and first responders through the therapeutic benefits of Jiu Jitsu and fitness training.
“Simple training, for me (as a hobby and a private love ) has been fundamentally key to further develop a deeper sense of inner resilience, calm and well being. I can’t stress the importance it has had and the impact on my life and my fellow teammates.”
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Prospect watch: Jiri Prochazka pushed Mohamad Osseili mentally, physically in training at Bangtao MMA to stay undefeated
- UFC Vegas 61: Mackenzie Dern eyes ‘big opening’ in Yan Xiaonan’s ground game exposed by Carla Esparza
- UFC 281: Matt Frevola disappointed with new UFC contract, out to prove his worth at UFC 281
- Road to UFC: Previewing the “Road to UFC” semifinals, announced for the weekend of UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi
The best of the rest
- Russia barred from 2022 World Judo Championships – BloodyElbow.com
- Scott Coker says Bellator is ‘in dialogue’ with Nate Diaz to join promotion – MMAJunkie.com
- Chuck Liddell’s wife claims ‘The Iceman’ has CTE – MMAWeekly.com
- Anderson Silva explains UFC business practices and his one ‘problem’ with Dana White – MMAFighting.com
- UFC hasn’t sent a new offer – Francis Ngannou says contract situation still in limbo – BloodyElbow.com
The soapbox
Nate Diaz will only go to WWE if he gets to beat up The Rock:
In other Rock news, T-wrecks still hasn’t received a reply:
And he makes a good point here:
Randy Costa sporting the OG boxing look:
Derek Brunson been waiting:
The morning view
Anthony Hernandez catches up with JHK after showing out at UFC Vegas 60:
Hasbulla and Volk is the crossover you didn’t know you needed:
A Jose Aldo retrospective:
Watch 17-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. become the youngest fighter on the UFC roster:
Done deals
Thursday
- Daniel Rodriguez to fight Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 62 on October 15th (per MMA Island)
Wednesday
- Shamil Abdurakhimov to fight Jailton Almeida at UFC 280 on October 22nd (per AG Fight)
- Albert Duraev to fight Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC Vegas 66 on December 17th (per MMA Fighting)
Tuesday
- none to note
Monday
- Jarzinho Rozenstruik vs Chris Daukaus rescheduled for UFC 282 on December 10th (per Nolan King)
On this day in MMA…
On the 22nd of September, 2007, Anthony Johnson suffered the first loss of his career at UFC 76: Knockout.
‘Rumble’ was, God knows how, scheduled at welterweight to face Rich Clementi in what was Johnson’s sophomore fight in the UFC. On weigh in day, Johnson weighed in seven-pounds over the 170-pound limit, but the fight would proceed regardless.
Clementi submitted Johnson in the second round of their prelim fight.
Johnson would be scheduled to fight at welterweight a further nine times, missing weight for several of them, before making the move to the light-heaveyweight division win 2012.
