Tom Hardy is a certified badass. That’s what Cobra Kai’s Johnny Lawrence would think. Back in 2011, before the actor would become the Batman villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, the actor would show off his physical prowess in the MMA drama Warrior. The Hollywood Reporter now reports that the Venom actor recently made a surprise appearance at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship and entered the tournament under his real name, Edward Hardy.
The tournament was held at a high school gym located in Milton Keynes, England. The contest did not advertise his appearance, and when Hardy showed up, the audience was in for a big surprise. In Warrior, Hardy played a character named Tommy Conlon, who was a military vet that seemingly came out of nowhere to nearly win a mixed-martial arts tournament. Hardy would go on to pull off the same feat in real life, only this time, he had won all of his matches.
A spokesperson for the Championships mentioned how much of a nice guy Hardy is. “Everyone recognized him, but he was very humble and was happy to take time out for people to take photographs with him. It was a real pleasure to have him compete at our event.” This outing wasn’t Hardy’s first time secretly competing in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament. Before the Open Championship in Milton Keynes, the actor also entered into the REORG Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Wolverhampton, England, where he also fought unannounced.
An opponent of Hardy’s from the REORG tournament named Danny Appleby was quoted as saying, “I recognized him straight away. 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. I do okay, I’ve done about six tournaments, and I’ve been on the podium in every one. But he’s probably the toughest competitor I’ve had – he certainly lived up to his Bane character, that’s for sure.”
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