‘Hard as nails’ Labour MP to fight MMA veteran

A Labour MP described arsenic “hard arsenic nails” by 1 of his parliamentary colleagues is acceptable to instrumentality connected a seasoned MMA combatant successful a jiu-jitsu bout.

Will Stone, a erstwhile worker who was elected arsenic MP for Swindon North successful July, volition combat MMA nonrecreational Matt Inman connected November 2.

A achromatic loop successful Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Mr Stone ran a martial arts gym aft leaving the Army and was a regular rival connected the nationalist grappling circuit earlier entering politics.

The combat is portion of an lawsuit astatine Croydon’s Fairfield Halls organised by Polaris, Europe’s longest-running nonrecreational grappling promotion, which approached Mr Stone aft helium was elected.

He told the PA quality agency: “I did the trials for Polaris doubly and didn’t rather marque the cut, but aft I became the archetypal ever Brazilian jiu-jitsu achromatic loop MP, they reached retired to me.

“It’s an astonishing accidental to elevate the athletics truthful I had to instrumentality it.”

He said the athletics had helped him make the “mental robustness” needed for a vocation successful politics, saying: “Anybody who starts jiu-jitsu oregon immoderate signifier of grappling, you are going to beryllium unspeakable erstwhile you start.

“You are going to get beaten up a lot, truthful I deliberation it’s adjuvant for intelligence robustness.”

He added: “In politics, we person to beryllium robust. It’s not needfully a pleasant situation – there’s abuse, agelong hours – truthful that broadside of it has helped me.”

Following the announcement of the fight, chap Labour MP Mike Tapp tweeted that Mr Stone was “one of the nicest guys successful politics…and hard arsenic nails”.

Mr Stone’s opponent, Manchester-based middleweight Mr Inman, has been a nonrecreational combatant since 2008 and has an MMA grounds of 20 wins and 11 losses.

Both men person pledged to donate their purse from the combat to The Kelly Foundation, a intelligence wellness foundation successful Mr Stone’s constituency.

The MP paid tribute to Mr Inman for accepting the fight, saying helium was “a large guy”.

He said: “For him and his career, beating an ex-jiu-jitsu feline who’s present a person isn’t truly a stepping chromatic for him, truthful I truly admit him taking the plunge connected this.”

Mr Inman said: “Respect to Will for stepping up for the situation and doing it for a bully cause.

“Hopefully we tin get a fewer eyeballs connected that and bring the athletics to a wider assemblage arsenic well.”