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Tom Hardy Proves He’s a Real-Life Badass After Secretly Entering Martial Arts Competition & Winning Gold

Proving that he’s a real-life badass both on and off set, Tom Hardy secretly entered a martial arts competition and won the gold.  

According to the DailyMail, Tom Hardy surprised attendees of the UMAC Milton Keynes BJJ Opening 2022 on Saturday (September 17th). The event was held at Okgrove School in Milton Keynes. It was reported that the Venom star secretly arranged to take part in the fight and he appeared wearing a blue jiu jitsu gi. He took to the floor with his opponents and fought his way through to the event’s final where he won. 

Tom Hardy notably has a high-level blue belt in jiu-jitsu. After the event, he was seen showing off his gold medal and certificate, which showed his full name, Edward Hardy. The event was open to BJJ belt levels in adult, juvenile, and kids divisions. Andy Leatherland, who entered the ring against Hardy signed up for the event after hearing the actor might be there. 

“I knew he fought in the last competition locally and won two golds,” Tom Hardy’s opponent shared. “And I knew at that point that I fitted into his category – I was the same age, belt, and weight as him. He 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.”

Leatherland further explained that he contemplated competing at the tournament because it was very local. “And then one morning – he goes by the name Edward Hardy – I saw that he’d actually signed up,” he continued. He found out later that he would go against Tom Hardy if they came face to face in the final or bronze level match.

Tom Hardy’s Martial Arts Tournament Opponent Shares More Details About Their Match 

Meanwhile, Tom Hardy’s opponent further recalled details about their match over the weekend. “When [the judges] put the bracket out the day before, I could see that I would only meet him if it went to a bronze level match or if I saw him in the final. And on the day, he won his first and second match, so I ended up meeting him in the final.”

Leatherland also shared how Tom Hardy approached the match. “Lining up, he was very focused. The intensity that he brought to his movie roles, he brought that. He didn’t say a word, he didn’t say anything.”

The opponent went on to add that when it came to the match, there was no way anyone could not notice that it was the actor. The match started as quickly as it ended. “I made a mistake and he capitalized on that. He absolutely nailed it, and he subbed me, and it was over relatively quickly.”