Johnny Yaps Johnny Yap

In this episode I sit down with the Head Coach of Freestyle MMA, Joe Lopez to chat about a bunch of different topics from the Freestyle MMA origin story, to Fr. Maurie Crocker a former Pro Boxer, soldier and priest who fought to expose abuse in the church.
Joe was kind enough to share his time to talk about his experiences starting a security company through to his experiences coaching MMA GOAT Alex Volkanosvki, building up the team at Freestyle and their relationship with the worlds second best grappler - Craig Jones
One of the things that really stands out for me, is that despite all the achievements and accolades that his students have had, Joe is so down to earth and focused on wanting the best for his students.
I know Joe doesn't often do these kinds of podcasts so it's my honour to be able to share this conversation with you all, enjoy!
Make sure you tune into Wollongong Wars 11 this Friday 7th June 2024!
PS. if anyone speaks Spanish, you will probably appreciate Joe's massive grin at the end
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/freestyle_mma/
https://www.instagram.com/wollongong_wars/
https://www.facebook.com/crockersgym/
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1813760/wollongong-whistleblower-priest-treated-poorly/
 
 

In this episode Kaine Wilken joins me to chat about life, arborism, jiu jitsu and more!
Kaine has recently started his own Jiu Jitsu Academy - Reign Grappling Club in the Sutherland Shire so it was a good opportunity to see his space and chat to him about his own experiences with martial arts, life and more!
From growing up in a small town and experiencing bullying to bodyboarding, dealing with anger, history and more, we chat about a whole range of topics in true podcast fashion!
Enjoy!
 
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/reigngrapplingclub/
https://www.instagram.com/wilkojiujitsu/
 
 
 
 

I first met Perry a couple of years ago at his second MMA fight. It's amazing to see how much people can grow in a short period of time. I actually did a little interview with him backstage and he was such a quiet kid that Josh Culibao (as his corner) was there poking fun at him.
From living in Japan & starting his own little backyard fight promotion to deciding to come back to Australia by himself to find his own way, Perry is a committed guy chasing his goals.
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/perry.jamesprivate/
 

I recently caught up with Jake O'Driscoll when he was in Sydney for Subversion.
It was great to be able to sit down with him and chat about life, from family to his experience leaving AFL to pursue Jiu Jitsu, starting his own academy, picking a fight with Sonny Bill Williams and much more
I'm really blessed to have conversations like this, I apologise for the technical issue with the video, the most important thing is that the audio is all there, so I hope you enjoy this conversation and listening to the insights that Jake shared.
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/jakeod_essencebjj/
https://essencebjj.com.au/
https://linktr.ee/essencebjj
 

Hi Everyone!
In this episode I sat down with Coopar 'Rush' Royal.  A talented mixed martial artist who is fighting this weekend at One Championship!
People often think that Coopar has a traditional martial arts background, however his 'style' is actually from him incorporating the movements of his favourite fighters into his own game.
Growing up in Rockhampton and not having the best influences around him as he was going through school and it's the realisation that he was always chasing the 'rush' that led him to find martial arts.
Anyway, make sure you tune in and watch Coopar in action again this Friday!
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/rushthefighter/
https://www.onefc.com/athletes/coopar-royal/
 

In this episode I sat down with Josh O'brien, a young hungry MMA athlete who is not afraid to chase his dreams.
I enjoy chatting with people at all different stages of the journey as anyone who has chased something would know that feeling of dreaming big and trying to find a way to put it together.
I actually commentated Josh's first fight alongside  @SonnyBrown  at Wollongong Wars and it's interesting to reflect on Josh being so active despite being early in his career in the sport.
If anything, I also found that this conversation made me even more interested to follow his journey. There are plenty of people who would dismiss other people for having big aspirations, however I think one of the exciting things in life is that there are no guarantees of how it all pans out.
Shout out to Rival Gym Castle Hill for letting us use their space to record - apologies if there is a bit of background noise!
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/joshobrien11/
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/386163-joshua-o-brien