MP defeated in fight with MMA veteran
Labour MP Will Stone was defeated in his jiu-jitsu fight against an MMA professional on Saturday.
The newly elected Swindon North MP was forced to submit after four minutes and 37 seconds, almost halfway through the 10-minute bout against veteran fighter Matt Inman at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls in south London.
Both men had agreed to donate their purses from the event to The Kelly Foundation, a mental health charity in Mr Stone’s constituency.
The fight was part of an event organised by Polaris, Europe’s longest-running professional grappling promotion, which approached Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former soldier Mr Stone after he was elected.
After leaving the Army, Mr Stone ran a martial arts gym and was a regular competitor on the national grappling circuit before entering politics.
Before Saturday’s fight, he told the PA news agency: “I did the trials for Polaris twice and didn’t quite make the cut, but after I became the first ever Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt MP, they reached out to me.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to elevate the sport so I had to take it.”