Tom Phillipe Duquesnoy[2] (born June 21, 1993, in Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France) is a retired French mixed martial artist.
His grandparents had moved to Lens from Poland after World War II, hoping to find work in the city's coal mines.
Duquesnoy's father encouraged him to learn martial arts to protect himself, and he began training in sambo at the age of 12.
He eventually became interested in other forms of martial arts, including boxing, wrestling, and muay Thai.
When he turned 18, his father offered to pay for a year of living and training in Paris, on the condition that Duquesnoy could prove he could make a career from fighting.