Harry Potter Goyle is a cage fighter with a hardly noticeable change

Josh Herdman spent his adolescent years doing wicked Draco Malfoy’s bidding, but now he’s back in a totally different situation.

Josh was cast as Draco’s nefarious sidekick Gregory Goyle in the first Harry Potter film at the age of 13 and stayed in the role for all seven sequels.

He was considered for a separate part as Harry’s spoiled cousin Dudley Dursely, but he ended up portraying the Slytherin badboy who was slain by his own fire spell in the franchise’s last film.

Josh took up martial arts and cage fighting as an outlet for his anxiety, and it has since shown to be beneficial to his health and well-being.

“I had enough of it so I decided I was going to get fit and I knew I needed something to focus on and martial arts did change my life,” added, “You need a discipline, you need a tenacity, you need drive to keep at it. When you start you’re getting hammered, you are a novice.

“That is what a lot of people who start martial arts can’t get through and they don’t like it but it was exactly what I needed and it taught me a discipline, which I needed at the time, and a focus, it changed everything for me.”

Josh’s body has changed greatly since he began MMA, and his ripped body and shaved head are virtually unrecognisable.

“I was never fat or anything but before I started martial arts I was smoking and you feel like you can’t breathe,” he said, “You just generally feel much better in yourself. I feel happy, I can go and run ten miles.”

“It’s great looking good and the transformation is really cool. You don’t do it just for that, that’s like an added bonus. It’s more for your mental well-being.”

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Speaking about his experience, he said: “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.”

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