Fighting Matters

Fighting Matters
  • 5.0 (21)
  • Wrestling

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

  1. 2d ago

    An honest UFC Freedom 250 critique

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan is joined by Jesse Walker of Rough Hands BJJ to talk about the fallout from UFC Freedom 250, the fight card staged on the White House lawn for America's 250th anniversary. Neither of them watched it, because the fights were never the issue. They get into the corruption, the crypto payouts, the comment aimed at Michelle Obama, and why "keeping politics out of fighting" was never a real argument once the President turned the country's 250th birthday into his own fight night. ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Why UFC Freedom 250 was a problem even if the fights were good - The difference between promoting a sport and running a propaganda event - Crypto payouts and the "company store" comparison - The comment aimed at Michelle Obama, and why it was deliberate - Free speech absolutism as a dodge - The alleged Daniel Cormier and Eric Trump text exchange about fixed fights - The paradox of tolerance and why you can't platform extremists - What the UFC would have to do to win fans like Steve and Jesse back ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — What UFC Freedom 250 actually was 05:05 — A for-profit event on the people's lawn 09:10 — Defending the UFC as legitimate sport 14:48 — Propaganda, grift, and crypto payouts 16:40 — The Obama basketball tournament test 22:29 — Was it worth it for the UFC? 27:05 — MMA is an immigrant story 31:05 — The Michelle Obama comment was deliberate 41:26 — Free speech absolutism as moral cowardice 45:52 — The alleged Cormier and Eric Trump texts 51:54 — You can't break bread with extremists 59:33 — What would fix the UFC? 01:07:56 — Where to find Jesse Walker

    1h 8m

  2. Jun 12

    The UFC Freedom 250 debacle

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jeff Shaw is joined by Jesse Walker, Mike Mahaffey, and Stephan Kesting to take apart UFC Freedom 250, the card being staged on the White House South Lawn on June 14th. Four martial artists who spent decades loving this sport walk through why an event at the people's house, held on the president's birthday and billed as a celebration of America's 250th, leaves them cold. They get into the spectacle, the money, the sportswashing angle, and the version of this card that could have meant something. ⸻ 🔗 Links Mentioned: - Old Bastard BJJ Pride Month Fundraiser — https://patreon.com/oldbastardbjj - Salus Center — https://www.saluscenter.org - Growing Veterans — https://growingveterans.org ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Jeff Shaw — https://bellinghambjj.com - Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com - Mike Mahaffey — https://instagram.com/oldbastardbjj - Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Why a UFC card at the White House reads as fascist spectacle - The June 14th birthday timing and the "America 250" cover story - The "keep politics out of sports" double standard - Empty seats, military tickets, and who foots the bill - Cage fights as diplomacy, and what sportswashing really is - Theodore Roosevelt, immigration, and the event this could have been - What MMA lost when it stopped being outsider art ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Introducing the panel 02:40 — Fascism, spectacle, and macho posturing 04:30 — A birthday dressed as an anniversary 07:05 — Theater and a regime that believes in nothing 10:16 — Dead enthusiasm and a tourism slump 14:09 — Empty seats, military tickets, and June heat 16:32 — Rogan ringside and bread and circuses 18:53 — Who pays, and who gets held accountable 25:41 — But Roosevelt did it too 30:06 — Cage fights as diplomacy and sportswashing 34:53 — How you'd do it right, and why they can't 40:13 — Can this work at the White House at all? 46:18 — Outsider art and what's been lost

    52 min

  3. Jun 8

    Anti-Trans Hate Is a UFC Marketing Strategy

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan talks with Mike Mahaffey of Old Bastard BJJ about the trans hate pouring out of combat sports, and the fighters who have figured out it pays. They start with Sean Strickland's AI video of himself beating up a trans woman, then get into why guys like Strickland and Jake Shields keep posting this stuff: it riles up a certain kind of fan, and that attention is the product. Recorded during Pride Month, it is also about what the jiu-jitsu community owes its trans members, who take the brunt of this. 🔗 Links Mentioned: - Old Bastard BJJ on Patreon (buy "Introduction to Base" in June, all proceeds go to the Salus Center) — https://patreon.com/oldbastardbjj - Salus Center, Lansing — https://www.saluscenter.org ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Mike Mahaffey — https://instagram.com/oldbastardbjj ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Sean Strickland's anti-trans AI video and the threat behind it - How the "fairness in women's sports" debate gets used as cover for violence - Active clubs, fascism, and the far right's foothold in fight sports - Mike's advocacy work and the threats it brings - The harassment trans grapplers face just for showing up to train - Why fighters profit from anti-trans content - Why "keep politics out of jiu-jitsu" is a cop-out - Raising a trans daughter and changing minds through storytelling ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Welcome and why a Pride episode 02:26 — The Strickland video and the "fairness" cover 08:47 — Active clubs and the far right in fight sports 11:20 — Mike's advocacy and the threats it draws 17:46 — Spite-based activism and trans grapplers under attack 22:30 — Why fighters monetize trans hate 30:04 — Staying neutral is a choice, and the politics myth 34:08 — Pride, gender, and changing norms 40:17 — You don't have to get it to defend it 42:36 — Mike on supporting your trans friends and family 47:35 — Why martial artists have to speak up 51:06 — Mike's fundraiser for the Salus Center

    1h 1m

  4. May 26

    Why did UFC BJJ let Mikey compete with a staph infection?

    In this episode of the Fighting Matters podcast, Steve Kwan is joined by Jeff Shaw of Bellingham BJJ, Mike Mahaffey of Old Bastard BJJ, and Dr. Clayton Green, a board-certified dermatologist and BJJ practitioner. They get into what happened at UFC BJJ when Mikey Musumeci defended his title against Kevin Dantzler with an active staph infection, went back to the hospital right after the match, and defended the decision by saying he had covered the infection with spats. The conversation covers why staph is more dangerous than people realize, how the UFC has stopped fights like this before but didn't this time, and what gyms and competitors can actually do to be safer. 🔗 Links Mentioned: - NFHS Wrestling Skin Lesion Form — https://a-us.storyblok.com/f/1022696/x/87b3155d73/2025-26-nfhs-wrestling-skin-lesion-form-final-april-2025.pdf ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Jeff Shaw — https://bellinghambjj.com - Mike Mahaffey — https://www.instagram.com/oldbastardbjj - Dr. Clayton Green ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - What happened at UFC BJJ and Mikey's hospital readmission - Why "I covered it with spats" isn't a defense - How close Ben Askren came to dying from MRSA - Whether BJJ is losing community knowledge about infection risk - How pandemic-era science denial is showing up in jiu-jitsu - How the UFC stopped fights like this before, and didn't this time - The wrestling skin check form and how gyms can use it - Institutional accountability vs dogpiling on the athlete ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Introducing the panel 02:39 — What happened at UFC BJJ 05:16 — Spats aren't condoms 10:09 — How dangerous staph actually is 18:08 — Are we losing community knowledge about infection risk? 25:21 — Why didn't the UFC stop this? 26:34 — Pandemic-era science denial in BJJ 33:13 — The wrestling skin check form 36:45 — How gyms model and enforce safer behavior 40:48 — Advice for young competitors under pressure 50:22 — Institutional accountability vs dogpiling the athlete 53:02 — Closing thoughts

    1h 1m

  5. May 21

    How Jiu-Jitsu Survives the AI Era

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan is joined again by Dr. David Riedman: 17-year jiu-jitsu practitioner, MIT-trained data analyst, and PhD researcher whose dissertation focused on measuring the accuracy of large language model outputs. David is also the author of the Riedman Report, one of the most popular Substacks on risk, AI, education, and security. The conversation is broken into three parts. Part one is a broad explanation of what modern AI actually is and how it works. Part two covers the cultural and social impact of AI on public life. Part three is about how AI will affect the business of jiu-jitsu and the people who train and run gyms. Steve walks out of the conversation with a take he didn't expect: martial artists may be in a stronger position than people working in tech. ⸻ 🔗 Links Mentioned: - The Riedman Report — https://riedmanreport.substack.com - K-12 School Shooting Database — https://k12ssdb.org ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Dr. David Riedman — https://riedmanreport.substack.com ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Why LLMs don't actually think, and why that matters - The political split on AI adoption and why both sides are partially right - Where AI genuinely helps a small business and where it creates risk - Model drift, context dilution, and how guardrails break down in long conversations - Why AI tutorials and AI video can't teach jiu-jitsu - What it means for a sport without a unified registry when anyone can fabricate credentials - The trillion-dollar lock-in: why we may be stuck with LLMs even if they don't work - Why human-service work like coaching may be more durable than tech work ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Reintroducing Dr. David Riedman 03:25 — PART 1: What modern AI actually is 15:39 — Why a confident-looking LLM output can still be wrong 23:12 — PART 2: The cultural and social impact of AI 35:09 — When the stakes are too high to outsource 42:09 — When AI is used to plan a war 50:54 — Model drift and how the guardrails erode 58:23 — PART 3: AI and the business of jiu-jitsu 01:03:11 — Automating the soul out of your gym 01:14:20 — The trillion-dollar bet on a tool that may not work 01:22:06 — Three futures and none of them are good 01:29:46 — What gym owners and practitioners should actually do

    1h 35m

  6. May 14

    A Man Broke Into My Apartment at 4 AM (feat. Andrea Tang)

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan is joined by Andrea Tang: novelist, brown belt at District Martial Arts, and host of BJJ Today on the BJJ Mental Models Premium Network. Three years ago, a serial home invader broke into Andrea's apartment at 4am and tried to sexually assault her in bed. She fought him off using day-one white belt basics. This is a conversation about that night, the years of court proceedings that followed, and what watching the BJJ community treat survivors has taught her about who actually has the courage to speak up. ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Andrea Tang — https://andreatangwrites.com ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Surviving a home invasion at 4am using basic jiu-jitsu - What the court process actually looks like for sexual assault survivors - Why women don't speak up, even with airtight cases - The "porcupine strategy" and why white belt basics matter most in real attacks - Why stranger violence and instructor abuse should not be treated as the same problem - The identity crisis that hits women martial artists when they become victims - How women in combat sports absorb toxic masculinity (and why it costs them) - Busting the "no woman could beat a man" myth ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Welcome and book plug 02:29 — The night a stranger broke in 06:02 — The aftermath and the marks it leaves 09:26 — What the court process actually costs survivors 12:52 — Why so few women ever speak up 26:15 — When muscle memory wakes up before your brain does 33:53 — The porcupine strategy: being a hard target 39:50 — Stranger attacker vs. instructor abuser 44:28 — When the victim is a martial artist 48:56 — Toxic masculinity isn't a men's thing 55:47 — What jiu-jitsu is actually for

    1 hr

  7. May 5

    How YOU Can Clean Up Jiu-Jitsu

    After yet another sexual abuse case in the BJJ community, the Fighting Matters crew works through a question every grappler eventually has to answer: "What can I, as just a student, actually do about this?" They get into voting with your wallet, the black belt blackmail trap, why we're great at sweating into each other's eyeballs but terrible at conversations, and Mike's framework for delivering hard feedback without lighting the gym on fire. 🔗 Links Mentioned: • Magic BJJ — https://magicbjj.com • Rough Hands BJJ — https://roughhandsbjj.com • BJJ Mental Models — https://bjjmentalmodels.com ⸻ 👥 Featuring: • Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com • Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com • Mike Mahaffey — https://instagram.com/oldbastardbjj ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: • Why stewardship of the culture isn't just the gym owner's job • Voting with your wallet when your coach is the problem • The black belt blackmail trap and how to leave anyway • Why jiu-jitsu people are terrible at having actual conversations • Mike's framework for delivering hard feedback without making it personal • When to take it to the coach vs. when to take it public • Jesse's "spectrum of seriousness" and why proportionality matters • Culture guardianship vs. mat enforcer culture • Why culture is what you tolerate, not what you preach ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — A regular student's guide to fixing the sport 02:29 — Stewardship doesn't require owning a school 03:31 — Vote with your wallet 07:56 — Weeks from black belt and the school is rotten 11:17 — Belt blackmail and the myth of permanent lineage 14:45 — Jesse's wild Rio re-belting story 18:49 — We sweat together but won't talk to each other 20:27 — The basic social skills problem in jiu-jitsu 26:46 — Why exit interviews and gym feedback both fail 28:34 — How to receive feedback without killing the next one 30:49 — Jesse's conflict aversion confession 32:04 — Mike's framework: name the behaviour, use I-statements 38:59 — Going public vs. going to the coach first 43:47 — The spectrum of seriousness 50:53 — Spotlighting the good in the community 54:48 — Culture guardianship, not mat enforcement 59:39 — Culture is what you tolerate

    1h 4m

  8. Apr 24

    Why BJJ Camps Need Less Jiu-Jitsu

    In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan is joined by Jesse Walker (Rough Hands BJJ), Mike Mahaffey (Old Bastard BJJ), and Niamh Bryn (Snowblind BJJ) for a recap of the recent Rough Hands spring camp in Louisville. The four of them argue that the best jiu-jitsu camps are not the ones that cram the most jiu-jitsu in, and that the celebrity instructor model has quietly priced out and burned out the people the sport depends on. 🔗 Links Mentioned: - Gi to Sea (Jeff Shaw, Bernardo Faria, Dominyka Obelenyte) — https://bjjmentalmodels.com/events ⸻ 👥 Featuring: - Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com - Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com - Mike Mahaffey — https://www.instagram.com/oldbastardbjj - Niamh Bryn — https://www.instagram.com/snowblindbjj ⸻ 🧠 Topics Discussed: - Why the best parts of a BJJ camp happen off the mat - The celebrity instructor model and how it prices out the average attendee - Why regional and lesser-known coaches often deliver more value - Filtering out bad actors, harassers, and extremists at camps and gyms - Cultural guardianship: why a head coach can't enforce culture alone - People who train jiu-jitsu instead of getting therapy - The collaborative camp format vs the one-marquee-instructor format - How travel and out-of-region training expose your blind spots ⸻ 📖 Chapters: 00:00 — Welcome and intros 02:06 — Recap of the Rough Hands spring camp 04:13 — Less jiu-jitsu, more community time 05:21 — Niamh on jiu-jitsu peripheral events 07:21 — Why getting out of your regional bubble matters 09:15 — Mike: the friendships are why I keep training 12:20 — The celebrity instructor problem 20:54 — Reliable community as camp infrastructure 26:34 — Healthcare, insurance, and traveling for jiu-jitsu 28:36 — Filtering out the bad actors 35:47 — What we actually mean by filtering 41:00 — Niamh on training for the wrong reasons 46:56 — Cultural guardianship at scale 54:20 — The collaborative camp model 58:07 — Plugs, outros, and where to find everyone 1:00:53 — Plugging Gi to Sea with Jeff Shaw

    1h 3m
See All (86)

5
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Fighting Matters
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    86
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Fighting Matters
  • Show Website
    Fighting Matters

You Might Also Like