Harry Potter's Gregory Goyle Is Now an MMA Cage Fighter

Josh Herdman played Draco Malfoy's righthand man in all eight movies

By Rebecca Macatee Apr 26, 2016 7:14 PMTags
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Gregory Goyle's come a long way since Hogwarts!

Josh Herdman, the actor who played Draco Malfoy's righthand man in all eight Harry Potter movies, made his amateur debut as an MMA cage fighter this weekend, defeating his Polish opponent Janusz Walachowski at the City Pavillion in London.

"I've been training traditional Japanese jujitsu for nearly five years and hold a shodan black belt," Herdman, 28, told the U.K.'s Mirror. "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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Child Stars Then and Now
Dan Donovan

Herdman hasn't lost any love for acting, but he compared it to "playing the lottery for a living."

He told the Mirror he still has an agent and goes for auditions. Herdman doesn't see competing as an MMA fighter "so much as a career change" either, he said, noting he's "passionate about both acting and fighting."

Dan Donovan

Speaking of acting and fighting, did Herdman ever have any beef with the other Harry Potter kids? "No, we truly all got on pretty well," he told Addicted OTR in a pre-fight interview. "Jamie [Waylett, who played Vincent Crabbe] and I didn't get on in the early days but towards the end he was probably one of my closest friends on set. He's a really funny guy. He's a good rapper too."

Those Hogwarts alum have all kinds of talents, don't they?

Watch: Is Daniel Radcliffe In the "Harry Potter" Prequel?
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Harry Potter Kids: Then & Now