It might surprise a lot of BJJ fans but the legendary competitor and coach Roger Gracie was one of a select few in attendance at the premiere of the latest James Bond film, No Time To Die. The film was released just recently and in a post to his official Instagram account, the legendary grappler appeared to be having a fantastic time hanging around with Hollywood star Jason Momoa at the event. Momoa must’ve had a great time too as he left the following message for Roger:
“You badass had a great night hanging bud. all my aloha. let’s do it again.”
Roger Gracie certainly seems like a strange choice of invitee for the premiere of any film, but it’s worth noting that stars acting in action films like the James Bond series have long been training with some of the best martial arts minds on the planet to prepare for their films. In fact, Superman star Henry Cavill has frequently praised Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for it’s benefits and has trained under Roger himself in the past. It isn’t just action stars either, as other a huge number of actors have also been known to spend their spare time on the Jiu-Jitsu mats, including Mario Lopez, Ashton Kutcher, and Freddie Prinze Jr.
The rise of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu hasn’t stopped there either as a number of celebrities with no work-related reason to have combat sports skills have also began training in the sport. Singer Demi Lovato famously earned her blue belt in BJJ before stopping training, and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine earned his purple belt at the age of 59. Other musicians have moved in on the sport as well, with rapper Action Bronson having also recently started the sport in order to help his weight-loss journey.
