Overjoyed Hollywood star Dave Bautista taken to social media after being promoted to brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu after more than a decade of training in the sport. The 54-year-old wrestler-turned-actor started his martial arts journey in 2010 and quickly became obsessed with it, before making his professional MMA debut in 2012.
‘It’s a puzzle I’ll never solve and if you know me, you know I get obsessed with things I can’t figure out. ‘It’s been a challenging process with my work schedule, in fact I barely trained from 2014 when I got my purple belt to 2021.
Despite winning on debut, Bautista made the decision to not pursue MMA, but he kept up his training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has now been rewarded for his skill and dedication.
‘Last fall I dedicated myself to progressing and this week it finally happened.’ Many celebrities offered their congratulations to the Hollywood superstar, who now has the same belt rank as Ashton Kutcher of ‘That 70s Show’ and ‘Two and a Half Men’ fame.
Actor Tom Hardy has just this week been promoted from blue belt to purple belt after years of steady training and competition. Bautista was a 30-year-old bouncer when he fell into professional wrestling, ultimately rising to become one of the WWE’s biggest stars alongside John Cena.
Ryan Reynolds responded to the post with a series of hearts, Vin Diesel sent an applauding emoji, while Bear Grylls called him a ‘legend’. Brazilian jiu-jitsu has become very popular with celebrities in recent years, with the likes of Russell Brand, Henry Cavill and Guy Ritchie posting about their achievements in the sport.
However, unlike Cena, who was allowed to pursue movies on the side, Bautista wasn’t afforded that and left the WWE in 2010. He appeared in small roles in The Scorpion King 3, The Man With The Iron Fists and Riddick before landing his breakthrough role in Guardians of the Galaxy.
After Guardians of the Galaxy was a box office hit, bigger and better roles started coming in alongside Daniel Craig in Spectre, Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 and honing his comedic chops even more in 2019’s Stuber with Kumail Nanjiani.
After months of auditions, Bautista revealed he was on his way to the gym when he was told he had landed the role of Drax the Destroyer. Bautista said ,‘I had to pull over because I was crying so hard. I turned right back around and walked into my house shaking to tell my wife I had gotten the role, and we were both standing there freaking out,’.
