‘Hard as nails’ Labour MP to fight MMA veteran

Will Stone, now MP for Swindon North, ran a martial arts gym before entering politics.

Will Stone (centre) celebrating a Brazilian jiu-jitsu victory prior to his political career (Will Stone/PA)

A Labour MP described as “hard as nails” by one of his parliamentary colleagues is set to take on a veteran MMA fighter in a jiu-jitsu bout.

Will Stone, a former soldier who was elected as MP for Swindon North in July, will fight MMA professional Matt Inman on November 2.

A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Mr Stone ran a martial arts gym after leaving the Army and was a regular competitor on the national grappling circuit before entering politics.

The fight is part of an event at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls organised by Polaris, Europe’s longest-running professional grappling promotion, which approached Mr Stone after he was elected.

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.”

He said the sport had helped him develop the “mental robustness” needed for a career in politics, saying: “Anybody who starts jiu-jitsu or any form of grappling, you are going to be terrible when you start.

“You are going to get beaten up a lot, so I think it’s helpful for mental robustness.”

He added: “In politics, we have to be robust. It’s not necessarily a pleasant environment – there’s abuse, long hours – so that side of it has helped me.”

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

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

Both men have pledged to donate their purse from the fight to The Kelly Foundation, a mental health charity in Mr Stone’s constituency.

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

He said: “For him and his career, beating an ex-jiu-jitsu guy who’s now a politician isn’t really a stepping stone for him, so I really appreciate him taking the plunge on this.”

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

“Hopefully we can get a few eyeballs on that and bring the sport to a wider audience as well.”