Imagine entering a martial arts tournament assuming you’ll be fighting a stranger named Edward Hardy just to realize once on the mat that it’s acclaimed actor and Venom star Tom Hardy? That was the case for some fighters over the weekend when Hardy made a surprise entrance into the 2022 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship tournament held at a high school gym in Milton Keyes, England. Because Hardy had entered using his real name (Tom comes from his middle name, Thomas), the competitors and spectators alike were all surprised when the actor, who had played an MMA fighter in the 2011 movie Warrior, was the person who showed up.

While Hardy often plays tough guys in movies, he’s no less fierce in reality. The Guardian reports that Hardy won all of his fights in the tournament, coming out undefeated at the end of the competition. But even if he’s hard to beat in a fight, he was still a “real pleasure” for the hosts of the tournament, who called Hardy a “really nice guy” in a statement afterward.

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“Everyone recognized him but he was very humble and was happy to take time out for people to take photographs with him,” a spokesperson said. “It was a real pleasure to have him compete at our event.”

Bane Would Be Proud

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Hardy is said to be a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and this is not the first time he has utilized those skills for a competition. He previously won the REORG Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Wolverhampton, with the event raising money for military personnel, vets, and emergency service workers; Hardy is a trustee for REORG. His opponent that night, Danny Appleby, said that Hardy was very kind but that his villainous Dark Knight Rises character would be proud of his skills on the mat.

“He’s a really strong guy,” Appleby said at the time. “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.”

On being surprised to find out he was fighting the Tom Hardy, Appleby added, “I was waiting match-side for the semi-final in Wolverhampton when Tom showed up. I didn’t know he was going to be there. And they expected me to remain composed. 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.’”