Johnny Yaps

In this episode I sit down with professional boxer Youssef 'Uwee' Dib. Although he found it difficult to find fights in his amateur career, likely due to the success of his brother in the Professional Boxing scene (Billy Dib), Uwee has also had the passion for boxing for a long time as well. The youngest of 7 siblings, we talk about a whole range of topics, from religion / faith through to having...

In this episode I sit with Liam and Dylan Resnekov, brothers who founded VT1 Martial arts. It's always interesting to watch the dynamics between siblings and I cut out an awkward moment between these 2 in the episode (see if you can guess where!) That said, for 2 brothers with parents who were passionate martial artists, they both invested heavily into their own martial arts journeys, funding nume...

Deacon Joshua Whicker MGL (Missionaries of God's Love) is being ordained to priesthood on the 28th April 2023. I joked with Josh that he must be a popular guy at social gatherings as politics and religion are often the last topics people want to discuss given how conflicting different ideals could be. That said, we talked a lot about his personal journey to pursuing faith and I think that most peo...

In this episode I sit down with @stanleemma7833 Zach Stanley, a coach at VT1 Martial Arts Academy in Chatswood, Australia. We got into a conversation about ADHD and Zach was very open and thoughtful about his experience with it and deciding that he needed to get back onto medication to assist him in managing it. That said, Zach was also a military man and stumbled upon some youtube success with hi...

In this episode I sit down with @bbma-barrabenamartialarts4518 and we talk about life, from growing up in a mixed environment of 2 extremes - Sweden and Chile to getting out of a negative environment and trying to find structure, martial arts and more. Johnny is a sought after striking coach in Sydney, Australia, working with current UFC athlete Josh Culibao and many of the team through BBMA at bo...

In this episode, Renato and I caught up for a recap of IMMAF 2023 as well as a huge discussion around the current MMA scene in Sydney / Australia A bit of a different episode as we covered the Renato's childhood and upbringing in the first episode, this one was more focused on current happenings and developments in MMA. If you wanted to hear more about Renato's life check out the first episode (#4...

In this episode I sit down with Josh 'Kuya' Culbiao, a Filipino Australian Mixed Martial Arts fight currently contracted to the UFC's Featherweight division. Coming off the high of a win at UFC 284 in Perth we had a wide ranging conversation that touched upon Josh's life growing up as the youngest of 4 brothers, the loss of his father and more importantly the support that his father gave him, beco...

In this episode, I sit down with Orson McComish, a young teammate of mine who recently made his debut at XFC 63. I really enjoy talking to people at all stages in life and chatting with Orson at this amazing juncture in his life where there is so much potential and so much opportunity ahead. Despite being a smaller kid and being bullied throughout school, I remember talking to Orson at training af...

In this episode I sit down with Vanessa Hadchiti, candidate for the Liberal Democrats for Canterbury at the upcoming State election in NSW 2023. Vanessa and I first met through the UAP and we have such a great group of people who all still keep in contact and support each others endeavors. What I really enjoy about Vanessa is that she has such a big heart and a beautiful smile, not to mention she'...

In this episode I catch up with @logancole owner of All Out Gym in Bellambi (Wollongong). Logan was actually my second guest on the podcast and if you haven't already seen the first episode check it out as it will give you a bit more an idea of who Logan is link is here: https://youtu.be/Dw7UQjSgmmk It's amazing what a difference a few years make given we last caught up in like December 2019 and n...

In this episode I sit down with a very talented Hannah Baek Wha, a folkstyle artist who is actually holding her first exhibition later this month at Tea Angle in Marrickville. We talk about her upbringing as an adoptee and some of the challenges she faced growing into the person she is now, having wrestled with her Korean / Asian heritage whilst growing up in a Caucasian household in Tasmania. I n...

In this episode I sat down with Alex Carioti and Jacinta 'The Juggernaut' Austin ahead of her upcoming clash with Josefine Knuttsonat UAE Warriors 35. It was fun to be in the room with these 2 and seeing the bond they have as athlete and coach. Alex and I resonate on so many levels having had a more traditional martial arts style upbringing and we both enjoy the analytical aspects of the sport. Ja...

In this episode i sit down with Marko Papuckovski of https://humanliwellness.com/ Marko is a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and I met him through our training at Integrated Combat Centre. I really enjoyed this conversation as we talked about so many things, from the gut microbiome to holistic health, mindset, motivation, sales, faith and so much more When we started talking about diet and health, there w...

In this episode I sit with  @SonnyBrown  to talk about his new venture in Apex MMA Brookvale. We also talk about the genesis of the Sonny Brown breakdown, IT, & customer service, wrestling / jiu jitsu, fighting and our passion for study and commentary. It's always interesting how skills can transfer between industries and teaching in school and teaching in Martial Arts have such great synergies. S...

Hi Everyone, In this episode I sit down with Alan 'Super Ali' Philpott at hte IGOR MMA Gym in Sydney. Alan is actually competing at Eternal 73 on the 11th February 2023 so it was nice to be able to sit down with him as his camp was winding down. We talk about his travels as well as his growth and maturity as a person and as a fighter, having fought in the One Championship Warrior series and also t...

In this episode I'm back at Sydney West Martial Arts, this time to sit with Bobby Sandhu @bobbysandhubjj on instagram. Bobby is a comedian and a grappler who I found has a very profound perspective and a real thoughtfulness to his approach to life. From delivering value, to making people laugh, we cover a lot in this episode so I hope you can all kick back in the moment and just enjoy this convers...

In this episode I'm back out at Sydney West Martial Arts chatting to Josh Saunders (@) hpucoaching an Australian Jiu Jitsu athlete who after a very brief period in the sport qualified for the olympics of submission grappling - ADCC 2022 Josh is no stranger to podcasts, however it was interesting for me to sit down with him and ask the questions that interest me and we cover a lot of ground. This i...

In this episode, I sit down with Faine Mesquita, a software developer who is also going to represent Australia at the IMMAF worlds in Serbia in February 2023! She has this quiet resilience about her that has no doubt been forged from her experience with bullying in her younger years, so it was nice to be able to sit down and find out more about her. If you would like to support Fa as she goes to S...

In this episode I sit down with Samir 'Tank' Ali, an upcoming fighter who will be representing Australia at the IMMAF Worlds in Serbia in February 2023. It was interesting to sit with 'Tank' as he has a very stoic attitude about everything, guided by his faith, we talk about his martial arts journey, to him starting a business so that he could support himself to train and pursue a career in mixed...

In this episode I sit down with Daniel Mitchell, Australia's Bantamweight representative for the upcoming IMMAF Worlds in Serbia (2023) We talk about how he got into Martial arts, how having a learning difficulty impacted his early years and led him down a pathway of sports and athletic endeavors It's always interesting to see the different things people get involved with and there is no weirder c...

In this episode I sit down with Diogo from the the five 8 take. Diogo and I have common friends and it was great to sit down, talk about a lot of things from podcasting to Jiu Jitsu, marketing, building a business, what it was like growing up in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the move to Australia. We caught up at Braddah Jiu Jitsu in Artarmon and it was fun to roll together afterwards to get s...

In this episode, I sit down with Luke Martin from Sydney West Martial Arts academy. Sydney West Martial Arts is one of the best BJJ schools in Sydney / Australia at the moment, having recently had 2 of their team members qualify for ADCC 2022 and compete in the olympics of no-gi grappling. Luke is a very direct and to the point style of guy and I think that that ability to articulate to the point...

Woo boy, In this episode i'm joined by Liam Resnekov from VT1 Martial Arts Academy in Chatswood, Australia. Liam is a BJJ Black belt who was born in South Africa, had parents who were Karate instructors and funnily enough made his MMA debut at XFC 2 many many years ago (for reference, I just competed recently at XFC 60) In this conversation we go through a lot of things, from Combat to Kanye West,...

In this episode of the podcast, I sit down with Anthony Redward, owner of Grange High Performance boxing gym in the Illawarra, one of the people behind the scenes of the Southern Fighting Championship promotion and also a disability support services provider. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation and one of the greatest things about sitting down for a podcast with someone is that you get a...

In this episode I sit down with Mikey Sassine - a boxer who recently made his pro debut. We cover a wide range of topics in this discussion from boxing to becoming a teachers aid and much more It's always interesting to catch people at different stages in their life and I was impressed when I first met Mikey at the JNI promotions fight night as he was so polite, soft spoken and unassuming. I look...