Fighting Matters

Fighting Matters
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Fighting fascism and the far-right in combat sports like MMA and BJJ.

  1. Oct 17

    The USA is trying to own Alberta

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting make a public service announcement ahead of Alberta's October 19 referendum on whether to start the process of separating from Canada. They lay out how US officials and MAGA influencers have openly courted Alberta separatists, what leaving Canada would cost Albertans, and why people staying home is how Brexit happened. They also get into BC's snap election, with voting info for both provinces below. ⸻ 🔗 Links Mentioned: - Alberta referendum questions (vote October 19) — https://www.elections.ab.ca/elections/referendum/ - Where to vote in Alberta — https://www.elections.ab.ca/current-election-information/where-do-i-vote/ - Elections BC (advance voting October 16 to 21, final voting day October 24) — https://elections.bc.ca - Decision Making and National Unity Under Threat (DisinfoWatch report on US and Russian interference in Alberta) — https://disinfowatch.org/foreign-interference-targeting-canada-and-alberta/ ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Alberta's October 19 separation referendum - US officials courting Alberta separatists - Brexit and the risk of staying home - What separation would cost Alberta - Trump's promises and his record - Martial artists who say they're above politics - BC's snap election and the BC Conservatives ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Two Canadians, freshly vaccinated 00:42 — Alberta's October 19 referendum 02:14 — Bessent, Bannon, and Alberta oil 06:02 — Separatists meeting US officials 07:08 — Russia and the Arctic routes 09:07 — Brexit and the turnout problem 14:02 — Norway's sovereign wealth fund 15:36 — What separation would cost Alberta 18:44 — Danielle Smith and Donald Trump 20:09 — Trump's promises and his record 24:53 — US military threats to Canada 26:26 — "Above politics" in martial arts 30:00 — The BC election and Conservatives 33:37 — Voting dates in Alberta and BC

  2. Oct 15

    One Distraction After Another

    On this episode of the Fighting Matters Podcast, Stephan Kesting, Jesse Walker, Jeff Shaw, and Steve Kwan examine how the recent insane actions of Donald Trump represent the normalization of extreme behavior in society and politics.  What sort of example does it set when political leaders behave in a way detached from morality and accountability?  We also look at the role of martial arts teachers for modeling and teaching core values ------- Featuring Stephan Kesting, https://www.grapplearts.com Jesse Walker, https://roughhandsbjj.com Jeff Shaw, https://bellinghambjj.com Steve Kwan, https://bjjmentalmodels.com ------- Chapters 00:00 Crazy things Trump has done in the last 3 days 04:02 The normalization of outlandish behavior in society 08:13 The role of accountability and integrity in leadership 10:01 Impact of political chaos on international trust 16:02 The potential for political change and the midterm elections 17:54 The danger of normalized lies and misinformation 20:00 The political expediency of leaders and their actions 21:55 The significance of voting and civic engagement 24:05 The broader mechanistic agenda behind political distractions 28:05 The influence of societal role models and behavior modeling 32:00 The silence and apathy in communities and martial arts 34:00 The normalization of hate speech and misinformation 36:08 The failure of leaders to acknowledge mistakes 37:52 The impact of political chaos on international relations 40:09 The importance of moral integrity in leadership 43:59 The role of martial arts in teaching core values 46:12 The erosion of trust and its global consequences 50:01 The influence of wealth and power on accountability 51:54 The importance of international cooperation and trust 56:02 The decline of American influence and trust worldwide 01:00:07 Closing thoughts and call to civic action

  3. Sep 27

    The Acceleration of Martial Arts Fascism

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Mike Mahaffey connect a month of far-right imagery in combat sports: Nazi salutes and a swastika flag at a kickboxing event in Orlando, an ADCC finalist with a history of posting Nazi salutes, and a Tatami gi pulled over SS-style lightning bolts. They argue this keeps happening because the sport keeps making excuses for it, and that fans can change that by being deliberate about who gets their money. ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Mike Mahaffey — https://instagram.com/oldbastardbjj ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Nazi salutes at a Paul Miller kickboxing fight - Josh Saunders' ADCC final loss to Victor Hugo - Tatami's Autsiders gi and its SS-style bolts - Turning Point USA on the UFC BJJ mat - Fuji BJJ's event conduct policy - Voting with your dollars in jiu-jitsu - Buying local in a K-shaped economy ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — A month of hate in fight sports 04:10 — Paul Miller's kickboxing salute 06:37 — Josh Saunders in the ADCC final 08:26 — Tatami's Autsiders gi controversy 14:46 — Josh Saunders' coaching business 17:29 — Voting with your wallet in BJJ 20:14 — Sports have always been political 23:02 — Turning Point USA on UFC BJJ mats 27:39 — Fuji BJJ's event conduct policy 34:53 — How the far right gets normalized 37:47 — Finding ethical jiu-jitsu coaches 40:10 — Far-right versus far-left threats 42:14 — The mood on the ground in the US 45:45 — Fascism and incompetent loyalists 50:39 — Local spending, K-shaped economy

  4. Sep 4

    Canada Fuels American Growth

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting talk through the Canada-US trade war from the Canadian side of the border. They explain why this was never about tariffs, and why Americans are not hearing how much of their own economy runs on Canadian lumber, oil, electricity, and potash, the base ingredient in most fertilizer. Canadian boycotts have already done damage that dropping the tariffs will not undo. ⸻ 🔗 Links Mentioned: - FULL SPEECH | Carney explains why Canada suspended trade talks with U.S. — CBC News — https://youtu.be/l-WgOxbWUHk ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - What the US demanded in the talks - French labeling and Canadian culture - 51st state rhetoric and sovereignty - Alberta separatism as a wedge - Potash, lumber, and US dependence - The odds of a hot war with Canada - Boycotts as the real pressure ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Two Canadians on the trade war 01:15 — The Welland Canal fake story 03:26 — What American media leaves out 05:49 — This started in January 2025 08:32 — The real reason talks collapsed 10:16 — Quebec and the French language 16:23 — Trump signed the USMCA himself 19:12 — Trust that takes decades to fix 25:10 — Hostile posts are policy now 29:50 — Could this become a shooting war 31:46 — Why Canada can hurt America 35:55 — Potash, lumber, and toilet paper 39:45 — Loyalty picked over competence 47:02 — Where are the American protests 51:33 — Boycotts and voting with dollars 55:10 — A Canadian insurgency and NATO

  5. Aug 28

    Tariffs and Jiu-Jitsu Economics

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jeff Shaw and Jesse Walker are joined by Jose Fernandez, a health economist and purple belt who chairs the economics department at the University of Louisville. He explains who pays for tariffs, why 70% of the world's gis coming out of one country matters for your gear budget, and what gym owners should do about prices and leases while their students are getting squeezed. ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Jeff Shaw — https://bellinghambjj.com - Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com - Jose Fernandez — https://louisville.edu/faculty/jmfern02 ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - The tight labor market and consumer sentiment - Gym pricing, leases, and rate freezes - Politics in the gym and local elections - Tariffs on gis and rash guards - The AI bubble and robot labor - The federal debt and taxing the rich - Insurance paperwork and doctor hours ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00:00 — Introducing Jose Fernandez 00:03:57 — The indicators and the debt 00:06:47 — White belt signups slow down 00:08:51 — Leases, rent, and expansion 00:11:48 — Why you shouldn't cut prices 00:13:38 — Family discounts and freezes 00:19:05 — Politics in the jiu-jitsu gym 00:20:29 — Vote in your local elections 00:25:09 — Who pays the tariff on your gi 00:28:23 — Trade deals without tariffs 00:32:31 — Why the stock market climbs 00:38:00 — Robots replacing human labor 00:47:54 — AI, drones, and modern warfare 00:54:12 — Cheap gas and the oil reserves 01:00:03 — The debt and the sacred cows 01:11:24 — Insurers waste doctor hours

  6. Aug 21

    We Gotta Talk About These UFC BJJ Sponsors

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting pull up a screenshot of the UFC BJJ 10 mat and read the sponsors out loud: the Air National Guard, the AI drone company Anduril, and Turning Point USA. Dana White has spent years insisting the UFC is not political, and you can read the rebuttal off his own mat. They argue the money is there to launder reputations and buy the silence of athletes who do not have many other options. ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - The sponsors on the UFC BJJ 10 mat - Anduril and Turning Point USA - Dana White on the UFC not being political - Exclusionary UFC BJJ contracts and ADCC - UFC BJJ viewership and visibility - What UFC BJJ athletes get paid - The chilling effect on athletes who speak out ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Stephan's Arctic expedition 02:21 — Dana White on being political 03:15 — The YAMMA bowl cage, revisited 04:24 — Reading the sponsors on the mat 05:33 — Anduril, the AI drone company 10:09 — Turning Point USA on the mat 16:28 — Could the left buy the same ad? 21:13 — The capture and kill strategy 24:00 — UFC BJJ's viewership problem 28:15 — Owning all of combat sports 32:09 — What UFC BJJ athletes get paid 43:41 — The Sartre quote on fascists 34:45 — The chilling effect on athletes 51:20 — What people can do about it

  7. Aug 12

    How COVID Broke the Martial Arts Community

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jesse Walker and Stephan Kesting (just back from thirty days in the Arctic wilderness) are joined by Dr. Clayton Green, a board certified dermatologist with a PhD in microbiology who worked face to face with patients through the whole pandemic. Clayton and Stephan take apart the conspiracies the pandemic left behind (nanobot tracking chips, the lab leak, RFK Jr.'s claims about Lyme disease) and explain why frightened people reached for them in the first place. Jesse's question runs underneath the whole thing: how did a community built on evidence-based martial arts end up rejecting evidence-based medicine? ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com - Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com - Dr. Clayton Green ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - The Big Pharma payment myth, debunked - Fear, certainty, and bad decisions - Fauci as the scapegoat - Changing the guidance was correct - Grapplers rejecting evidence-based medicine - Ivermectin and the grifters targeting grapplers - The genetics that rule out a lab leak - Algorithms and radicalized coaches - Your phone tracks you better than any chip ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00:00 — Introducing Dr. Clayton Green, dermatologist 00:01:53 — The Big Pharma payment myth, fully debunked 00:03:57 — Six years on, still no reckoning for COVID 00:05:49 — Fauci as the scapegoat for a whole government 00:08:07 — Fear and anger drive people to false certainty 00:10:12 — The early mask messaging that cost public trust 00:18:11 — Saving the mask supply for hospitals was right 00:23:01 — The vaccine claims held true until Omicron hit 00:26:51 — Reaching for ivermectin over actual medicine 00:29:13 — Operation Warp Speed, the win nobody will claim 00:31:42 — Grapplers rejected evidence-based medicine 00:37:02 — Pleading the fifth to dodge a perjury trap 00:41:45 — Genetic fingerprints rule out a lab leak 00:45:35 — Social media moderation and anti-Asian backlash 00:50:34 — YouTube radicalized Stephan's old instructors 00:53:35 — Debunking nanobot chips, 5G, and snake oil 01:00:37 — RFK Jr. is wrong about Lyme disease origins 01:03:06 — The AIDS-virus sequence myth, taken apart 01:05:17 — Whether we can get the public trust back

  8. Jul 25

    Andrew Tate and the zero-consequences era

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jesse Walker and Mike Mahaffey catch up on a run of recent news where powerful people did awful things and faced no real consequences: Andrew Tate arrested on 42 charges he may never answer for, ICE killings at traffic stops with the FBI reportedly stepping back, an FDA food-safety scare that ended in an apology to a Trump donor, and a Kentucky senator who has vanished while still collecting his seat. What ties it together is a question that hits close to home for two jiu-jitsu coaches: what happens to a country, or a gym, when people only look out for themselves? ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com - Mike Mahaffey — https://instagram.com/oldbastardbjj ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Andrew Tate's arrest in Florida and the 42 charges waiting for him in the UK - Why the manosphere and the administration still hold him up as a model of masculinity - Two ICE killings at traffic stops, deaths in detention, and who answers for them - Voting your pocketbook, and what a community loses when people only care once it hits them - Class versus culture: who is actually making your life harder - The "diarrhea lettuce" scandal and the FDA's apology to a major Trump donor - Mitch McConnell's disappearance, Kentucky's empty seat, and the octogenarian problem - Team-first versus me-first, in politics and in jiu-jitsu ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00:00 — Judo at an advanced age and teaching EMS crews to fall 00:02:40 — Andrew Tate arrested, 42 charges, and the purple blouse 00:11:44 — Two ICE killings and the accountability that isn't coming 00:21:03 — Detention deaths and what you'd do if they came for you 00:25:00 — Coaches cheering this on while their communities suffer 00:28:44 — Why people only wake up when it hits their wallet 00:32:06 — Phone banking and the voter just trying to survive 00:37:11 — Nobody survives alone, and who's really to blame 00:40:04 — Diarrhea lettuce and the FDA's apology to a donor 00:44:03 — The jiu-jitsu parallel: team-first beats the selfish island 00:47:31 — Where is Mitch McConnell, and the octogenarian problem 01:00:08 — Photobombing Master Worlds and signing off

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About

Fighting fascism and the far-right in combat sports like MMA and BJJ.

Information

  • Creator
    Fighting Matters
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    97
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Fighting Matters
  • Show Website
    Fighting Matters

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