Mickey Rourke may be best known for his role in the classic movie ‘The Wrestler’, but it turns out he’s also a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Scott Epstein. This happened after he trained under Epstein at his 10th Planet gym in Beverley Hills and Rourke has spoken about his transition into BJJ glowingly, adding, “Training jiu-jitsu and MMA here in Beverly Hills at 10th Planet West La with Scott ‘Einstein’ Epstein is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not only am I learning how to defend myself, but I am getting a great fat-burning and muscle-building workout too. It’s way better than going to the gym.”
As he’s a celebrity living in Hollywood, it’s no surprise that Rourke has bumped into Rigan Machado too, who has a host of celebs training under his belt. Regarding training with Machado, Rourke added, “Dear friend Rigan Machado. I can’t roll worth a s*** but when we stand up and pummel it helps my boxing because of the endurance. Rigan is a great teacher and a very good man. Respect to all jiu jitsu world! What a magnificent sport, it’s like a chess game”
As seen, Rourke mentions his boxing pummelling which is very relevant to him. Back in the early 90s he quit acting for a few years to pursue boxing as a career. He retired from the sport with an impressive 27-3 record.
