Mickey Rourke is one of the most popular and successful actors on the planet, and the Hollywood star has been become one of the latest celebrities to start training in BJJ as well. Rourke has won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA during his acting career, starring in several incredibly popular films over the decades. He first started acting in 1979 and has earned high praise for roles in films like Sin City, Immortals, Iron-Man 2, and The Wrestler among many others.
Rourke has never been just an actor though and he’s actually been heavily involved in combat sports for virtually his entire life. Long before he ever even considered being an actor, he was putting in the work as a boxer instead. Rourke picked up the sport in his childhood and had his first amateur match at the age of 12. Over the next 9 years he managed to put together an impressive record of 27 wins and 3 losses, but he also suffered several concussions during that time. After one particular instance at the 1971 Florida Golden Gloves, he was advised to take a year off in order to rest and decided to temporarily retire from the sport.
Rourke returned to boxing as a professional fighter in the 90s, putting together an undefeated record of 6-0-2 between 1991 and 1994. He fought in several different countries and put on impressive performances, although he suffered several facial injuries and needed reconstructive surgery as a result. He made one final return to boxing in 2014 when he took on an exhibition match at the age of 62, winning by TKO in the second round. Mickey Rourke hasn’t been able to stay away from combat sports for long though, as he’s been training in BJJ recently and seems to have enjoyed his time in the sport.
The original footage of Mickey Rourke training BJJ was uploaded to the official Instagram account of Smitty Wit:
