Fighting Matters
Fighting Matters
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Fighting fascism and the far-right in combat sports like MMA and BJJ.
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Recent Episodes
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
How to Identify "Active Clubs" in BJJ
In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan is joined by Hannah Gais, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center who has tracked white nationalist and neo-Nazi movements since…
How HEMA Pushed Out White Supremacists (And What BJJ Can Learn)
In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting sit down with Eric Lowe, a 13-year HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) instructor and school founder. HEMA had a serious white…
Jiu-Jitsu in the Face of War and Economic Disaster
Today, Jesse, Mike and Stephan discuss the impact of war on everyday life, particularly how the ongoing war in Iran could affect gas prices and essential goods if it continues. Conflicts in the…
Jiu-Jitsu Isn't Therapy
In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan is joined by Matt Tansey and Daniel Millstein: two licensed mental health professionals who also train jiu-jitsu. They attack one of the most repeated…
The Invisible Heart of BJJ (w/ Valerie Worthington)
In this episode of the Fighting Matters podcast, host Steve Kwan sits down with Valerie Worthington: BJJ black belt, professor of educational psychology, and one of the sport's most thoughtful voices…
How MAGA is Using Religion to Go to War
Stephan Kesting and Jeff Shaw explore the terrifying consequences of MAGA coopting Christianity and using misinterpretations of biblical ideas like the rapture, the apocalypse, and end times theology…
Discord & Roblox: The pipeline to school shootings (w/ David Riedman)
School violence researcher and Homeland Security expert David Riedman joins Steve and Jesse to break down the radicalization pipeline feeding modern school shootings. David covers how isolated kids…
Gordon Ryan & The Epstein Fallout
In this Presidents Day episode, Fighting Matters connects two explosive stories: Gordon Ryan’s inappropriate DMs and the growing fallout from the Epstein file releases. We debate accountability,…
Martial Artists Should Get Political
In this episode of the Fighting Matters podcast, hosts Steve Kwan and Jesse Walker are joined by Joshua Peters: martial arts instructor, former school teacher, and current candidate for Anne Arundel…
How the USA is Trying to Steal Canada's Oil
In this episode of Fighting Matters, hosts Stephan Kesting and Jeff Shaw are joined by Tyson LaRone (The Warrior Philosopher) to unpack the renewed push for Alberta separatism, its connections to…
How Hate Found a Home in Jiu-Jitsu & MMA
This interview is an excerpt from Dark Martial Arts History, an 8-part audio documentary chronicling the history and rise of extremism in martial arts like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA. The rest of…
The collapse of Atos (and what comes next)
The allegations against Andre Galvao, and subsequent collapse of Atos, have sent shockwaves through the Jiu-Jitsu world. In this episode, Steve Kwan and Jesse Walker unpack the allegations against…
You Can’t "Keep Politics Out" Anymore
The idea of “keeping politics out” is no longer tenable, especially in Jiu-Jitsu and martial arts communities. Against the backdrop of escalating political violence, institutional breakdowns, and…
Frequently Asked Questions
Fighting Matters has published 85 episodes since March 2025, covering topics in News, Sports.
Fighting Matters is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 1h 7m.
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