Harry Potter’s Josh Herdman Is Now A MMA Fighter

You know what they say. When the spell fails, just punch them in the face.

Okay, I doubt Dumbledore every actually said that, but it’s still a worthwhile stance. A stance that actor Josh Herdman of the Harry Potter franchise has taken to heart. The actor played Gregory Goyle in the Harry Potter films, lackey to Draco Malfoy, but since has taken a different approach to settling his differences.

Herdman just had his first fight as part of the MMA, and laid out his opponent Janusz Walachowski quite handily, scoring a unanimous decision (via Entertainment Weekly). He told the Daily Mirror “I’ve been training traditional Japanese jujitsu for nearly five years and hold a shodan black belt. It’s raw, exciting and unpredictable. I find it more interesting than boxing although I appreciate the beauty and art in boxing. It also made sense to move onto MMA because of my jujitsu training.”

While he’s off to a strong start, don’t count him out of acting anytime soon. Herdman added: “I haven’t fallen out of love with [acting], I still have an agent and still go for auditions. It’s just a little bit like playing the lottery for a living. I don’t see it so much as a career change, I am passionate about both acting and fighting.”