Sport and Life

James Gallagher is an Irish MMA fighter with a 10-1 record of his fight Saturday night in Milan. I shared this interview  here, that I recently conducted for Sky Sports, as felt it may help people struggling with uncertainty at this time. This is the fourth time James has been slated to fight his opponent - Sunderland's Cal Ellenor - and offers some powerful insight into how he'd adapted ment...

Gareth A Davies is a British sports journalist for the Daily Telegraph and several international broadcasters, covering boxing and MMA. Here I catch up with him - for Sky Sports - after Paul Daley, previous guest on the podcast, fails to make weight and is taken to hospital in Italy. Gareth was live on the spot in Milan and we spoke about the dangers of weight cutting and the broader issues facing...

Paul Daley has been a professional MMA fighter since 2003. At the time of recording, he'd won 42 of 61 professional fights, 31 by knockout.

Dr Mark Draper - my father - is a GP in the Cotswolds.  He was previously an an anaesthetist and has worked in nutrition with a focus on micro-nutrition and trace elements like selenium and zinc. Here we discuss antibody research in the British Medical Journal that indicates more Europeans may have been exposed to coronavirus than was previously thought. And we discuss ways to optimise our im...

Ryan Lamb retired from playing pro rugby in the spring after a distinguished career for Gloucester, London Irish, Northampton, Leicester Tigers, Worcester, La Rochelle and Scarlets. He also earned international recognition for England Saxons. He's now back living in Gloucestershire (Cheltenham) with his family and is beginning his coaching career at Hartpury College. Ryan talks about his fears for...

Fabian Edwards is an undefeated MMA fighter from Birmingham, UK who currently competes in Bellator. His brother, Leon competes in the UFC. He's due to fight Costello van Steenis in Milan, Italy on Saturday September 26.

Ben Markall was a highly courted youth footballer and at the age of 13 moved from Cheltenham Town to then-Premier-League Stoke City. But as his stellar rise stalled and when Ben returned to the lower leagues with Burton, his football career fell by the wayside as a gambling addiction took hold. Ben, 24, is now preparing to play for Bracknell Town as a semi pro, but his focus is working to help gui...

Tris is a longtime journalist and a former editor of Boxing News. He's also boxing Author with a new book Damage out next year. Tris reflects on the return of the sport in the UK amid the pandemic, the passing of former World Champion Alan Minter and the importance of structure - and napping. Tris has a fantastic in-podcast of his own, Boxing Life Stories: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/box...

My brother, JJ Draper talking about the complexities of the modern music industry and the destructive effect of the pandemic on artists' ability to make a living. JJ also had COVID-19 in February/March and talks about the post viral fatigue he's had since.   He's got a new song out too: https://open.spotify.com/album/5rIxCeDUks5RoqBRbu9iGR?si=vNiUpbv1TJurCwJY_MEnPw

Chat to Jon Palmer who covers Cheltenham Town FC and other clubs for Gloucestershire Live. We chat about about the health of the professional and semi-professional sports scene in the county amid the pandemic. Jon also lectures in sport journalism at the University of Gloucestershire and we touch on the logistics of getting students back on site. 

Jamie is a graphic designer from Gloucestershire who nearly died in a horror car crash in 2018. The experience fueled him with his friend, Chris Boulton, a photographer, to create Soul Kind magazine:  The pair traveled across the UK and the USA interviewing and photographing inspiring and insightful men and women to get a sense of how to make the most of life. The magazine is out - please ord...

Running through a Footballers In The Mind's Eye scenario with one of my best friends, Everton fan, Dan Kidd aka Pughie Wannabager. The scenario was posted on my twitter - @eddraper81 -  on August 24 if you want the visual reference. People's contributions lead us on a mazy conversation about 90s footballers and teams. 

Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte lost to Alexander Povetkin at the weekend. Just a few thoughts here on why I still believe Dillian's life story and boxing success remains inspirational irrespective of the result. Also a nod to a friend of the podcast Isaac Chamberlain's return to the ring after nearly two years out.  If you enjoy these style pods, please let me know - @eddraper81 on Twitt...

Ryan Bader is Bellator MMA's Light-heavyweight AND Heavyweight Champion. He defends his light-heavy title on Saturday 3AM in the UK on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix. Ryan was formerly an elite wrestler and and competed for Arizona State University.

Spencer - aka Master Knowledge online - is a former boxing, boxing trainer, promoter, historian and analyst. He's also a motivational speaker. He co-hosts a boxing podcast called The Fight is Right. We worked together co-hosting Sky Sports' boxing podcast, Toe-2-Toe for nearly three years, 2014 to the end of 2016. 

Below is a football scenario I posted on twitter - @eddraper81 - on July 30 2020. On this podcast I run through my social media friend's suggestion to the hypothetical. Please let me know if you enjoy this. I'm reviving it as a friend, who's a similar age to me, said it fired up his imagination thinking of current players and former stars. Footballers In The Mind's Eye: Picture a two-footed player...

Josh Thomson was a longtime contender in the UFC and Bellator in mixed martial arts. He was a lightweight champion in Strikeforce. He's now an analyst and commentator and speaks here about his experiences at Bellator's comeback card (in the Bubble) at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Connecticut, USA. 

As an amateur boxer, Anthony Fowler won Commonwealth Gold, World Championship bronze and competed at the Rio Olympics. As a pro his record - at the time of recording - stands at 12-1. He's set to fight Adam Harper at  the 'Matchroom Square Garden' on August 7 2020. Outside of boxing, Anthony has a property business and promotes CBD Oil, which he credits for a huge boost in his well-being.&nbs...

Riiddy Riidy Riival (birth name Akeem Ennis-Brown) goes for the British and Commonwealth Boxing titles on September 1 - broadcast free to air on IFL TV Youtube channel for UK viewers. It will be on ESPN in the USA. Riidy is 24 and has an undefeated record of 13-0.  You can follow him on Twitter @RiidyRiival

Scott has been the President of Bellator since 2014. Previously he founded and ran Strikeforce. He has a background in Taekwondo. Bellator returns for its first show since the pandemic began this Friday night (Saturday AM) in the UK. And this is an interview with Scott for Sky Sports talking about the logistical complexities involved. 

Nick is a youth football coach at Cheltenham Town and is head of Talent ID at the club. He is also a Bridge Football Academy Director, which works with young players who’ve been released from pro clubs and tries to earn them a second chance.

Former English Super Welterweight Champion Adam Harper, from Tewkesbury, who's returning to boxing after a 23-month layoff. Adam's brain scans were reviewed and he's been allowed to box again. He takes on former Commonwealth amateur champion Anthony Fowler live on Sky Sports on August 8th. 

James Golden has 20 years experience in the fitness business, including training professional athletes and running his own gyms. Now he has personal clients and mainly works out of Daylesford Organic Farm in the Cotswolds. His areas of specialism are in weight management  and performance training. James' website: www.thefitnesspro.co.uk

Jaydee is a national sports broadcaster in the UK, currently reporting for Sky Sports News and presenting Sky's NBA basketball coverage. He helps communities in the Caribbean and Africa through his own philanthropic organization: https://thejaydeedyerfoundation.org.uk/about-us. He's a passionate campaigner for equality and a public supporter of the global Black Lives Matter movement.  Like me...

Lianne has won 50 England caps, scoring 15 goals for her country. She's had a storied club career in football that so far has included time at Arsenal making her debut at 14), Chelsea, Espanyol, DC United and Juventus.  She's also a Manchester United fan and we talk about her hero, Eric Cantona in this episode. Lianne was the first openly gay player in the England's Women team and has a stron...