by “I’m the toughest MP”: Swindon North’s Will Stone joins in ITV News reporter Lewis Denison
Parliament has a new toughest MP, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter who is preparing to take on a mixed martial arts (MMA) professional in a charity fight next month.
Will Stone is a former soldier and MMA fighter who recently swapped the Octagon for the House of Commons when he was elected Labor MP for Swindon North.
After blasting your author following our interview and defeating former minister Justin Tomlinson for his seat, Stone has set his sights on taking on MMA champion Matt Inman in a charity fight at a Polaris Pro Grappling event on November 2nd hit.
Swindon North MP blasts ITV News journalist Lewis Denison
There have been battle-hardened MPs in the past – former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab was a black belt in karate – but Stone is confident he is now the toughest politician in Britain.
His colleague Mike Tapp says Stone is “tough as nails.” Asked if he would say he was the toughest MP, Stone said: “Yes I would, I don’t think the bar is very high there if I’m honest and I don’t think that “The voters want the toughest MP, but I would say I’m the toughest MP.”
The same confidence doesn’t quite translate to his opponent Inman, who fought 150 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fights in 2023 alone and has a professional MMA record of 20 wins and 11 losses.
He is “not afraid” but also accepts that the odds are against him. “I think I can win,” he said, but believes he only has a “20 percent chance of winning.”
“Matt is a very established fighter. He is good, but I am strong in certain positions,” he added, “It will be interesting, but I am no longer a full-time athlete. So I would say the odds are stacked against me.”
But some of the things he learned during his training are skills that are transferrable to politics, Stone emphasizes.
“Both the army and competing in jiu-jitsu make you pretty tough. And I think that is very important for the position of MP because it is a demanding job.”
He added: “Jiu-Jitsu is real-time problem solving. So I try to submit my opponent while they try to submit me. So you have to be on your feet all the time. And I think that’s useful in politics. They must be malleable to both.”
He is a far cry from former deputy prime minister John Prescott, who was clearly out of practice when he punched a protester in 2001, but Stone has had to cut back on his training regime to cope with the challenges of politics.
“I get about one session a week, but I do strength training… So I keep my body strong. But Ju-Jitsu; “I used to do 15 courses a week – I can’t do that anymore,” he said.
Stone’s opponent in November trained alongside the UFC world champion Conor McGregorwho hopes to emulate the Swindon MP by also entering politics.
The Irishman recently announced he would run for his country’s presidency ahead of next year’s elections.
In a post on
But Stone doesn’t believe McGregor should change his career.
Asked if the UFC legend would make a good president of Ireland, he said: “No. Absolutely not. I respect Conor for his fighting skills, but it’s actually quite sad to see how far he’s fallen and I think he needs to look into mental health help.
“He’s a great fighter, but to be honest he needs help.”
The fighter-turned-politician says Conor McGregor would not be a good president of Ireland
McGregor admitted he was in “deep psychological pain” after pulling out of a UFC fight due to injury earlier this year.
Stone’s martial arts specialty, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is very popular with celebrities, including actor Tom Hardy, who unexpectedly entered the competition two years ago and won.
Another is Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg, who last year apparently accepted the world’s richest man’s offer to host a cage fight.
Elon Musk tweeted, “I’m ready for a cage fight if he’s like this lol,” to which Zuckerberg replied, “Send me the location.”
It’s not clear if the fight would ever actually happen, but Stone thinks Musk would be wise to stay out of Zuckerberg’s way.
“He would destroy Elon Musk. That wouldn’t even be comparable. Mark is only a blue belt and is new to the sport, but from what I can tell he takes it very seriously.”
“Elon doesn’t wrestle. He did judo as a child. There is no way Elon Musk will win this fight.”
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