The BJJ Fanatics Podcast
This podcast aims to help listeners improve their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through weekly in-depth interviews with top athletes, coaches, and legends of the sport. Episodes cover technique, BJJ culture, and history, offering practical advice and personal lessons. Host Ryan Ford creates a relaxed atmosphere that reveals the human side of these figures while sharing their stories. With more than 600 episodes available, the show provides over 800 hours of content for both entertainment and learning.
Episodes
Fear Inoculation with Demian Maia
Demian Maia discusses performance anxiety in combat sports. He explains how it impacted him early in his career and how he overcame it. He also talks about the love/hate relationship elite athletes can have with their sport due to the pressures of winning.
BJJ Fanatics 673: Jake O'Driscoll
Jake O'Driscoll joins the show to talk about creating a training environment that breeds champions. He talks about the importance of coaches dedicating themselves to studying the game to help their athletes succeed. He also talks about straight ankle locks
BJJ Fanatics 673: Alberto Crane
Alberto Crane returns to talk about his life in Jiu-Jitsu since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He talks about how exploring Neurology has helped him and lessons he's learned. He also talks about the early days of being an American in Brazil!
BJJ Fanatics 672: Colton Crawford
Colton Crawford is a BJJ Brown Belt and the banjo player for the very successful Bluegrass band The Dead South. He talks about learning how to learn and the similarities between pursuing music and Jiu-Jitsu!
BJJ Fanatics 671: Dallas Niles
Dallas Niles returns to talk about teaching and the fact that you do NOT have to be a champion to be an elite instructor. He also talks about heavy metal and getting sick overseas, and the value of simplifying your game.
BJJ Fanatics 670: Michael Heinz
BJJ Black Belt Michael Heinz joins show show to talk about how meditation has impacted his journey in the art. He explains how to use meditation concepts before, during and after training to achieve better results.
BJJ Fanatics 669: Glyn Powditch
Glyn Powditch is a leading voice in Jiu-Jitsu on breathing and breathwork. He explains how something as simple as learning how to manage your breathing during training and competition can have a tremendous impact on your cardio and performance.
BJJ Fanatics 668: Shawn Williams
Shawn Williams joins the show for the first episode of 2026! The topic for this episode is how to coach athletes. Shawn talks about providing relevant information, game-planning, managing nerves and strategy from the coach's chair. He also talks take downs!
BJJ Fanatics 667: Xmas with Kurt
Kurt joins us for the final episode of 2025! We talk about the potential alien craft near Earth, conspiracy theories, and how AI consistently fools Kurt on Instagram. Kurt also takes questions from the listeners and spreads Christmas cheer.
BJJ Fanatics 666: Jeff Curran
Jeff Curran returns to share what its like to start and run a grappling tournament from scratch and life after professional fighting. He also opens up about growing up in poverty and a violent home and how Jiu-Jitsu changed the direction of his life
BJJ Fanatics 665: Roberto Godoi
Roberto Godoi returns to talk about competition for Masters athletes. He covers mindset, conditioning, tactics and conserving energy. He also explains how being "starstruck" when competing against a famous athlete is something to be completely avoided!
BJJ Fanatics 664: Shawn Melanson
Shawn Melanson joins the show to talk about running a gym specifically for competitors, how anxiety has impacted him on and off the mats, and developing take downs. He also shows his impressive reptile collection (check out the video episode on YouTube)
BJJ Fanatics 663: Robert Drysdale
Robert Drysdale joins the show to share his latest research on the history of BJJ. He also discusses the ways that commercialization has helped and hurt the art and his thoughts on professional grappling's influence on the culture and future of BJJ
BJJ Fanatics 662: Chris Wojcik
Chris Wojcik joins the show to talk about goal setting, finding purpose, the value of regret and removing self-doubt from your mind. He also talks about his beginnings as a wrestler, his passion for writing and his recent performance at CJI 2!
BJJ Fanatics 661: Malachy Friedman
Malachy Friedman returns to talk about his recent shift back into coaching high level athletes. He talks about competition mindset, how to gameplan for specific opponents and implementing your game intelligently.
BJJ Fanatics 660: Roy Dean
Roy Dean returns to talk about ego-less training, the balance of ego for competitors and how to process losses in a healthy way. He also details his nomadic teaching lifestyle and talks about his recent trip to Japan, where he trained at the Kodokan!
BJJ Fanatics 659: Kurt Osiander
Kurt is back! In this episode, Kurt responds to lots of questions from the listeners, we talk music and the passing of the legend Ozzy Osbourne, Kurt breaks out his Boston accent and he talks about his desire to start a new cooking show!
BJJ Fanatics 658: Justin Flores
JFlo is back! In this episode he talks about building good habits on your feet. He shares valuable insights for older or injured grapplers that breaks the traditional Wrestling meta; to not fight for positions so hard and yet still be dangerous.
BJJ Fanatics 657: Rick Ellis
Rick Ellis joins the show to discuss Jiu-Jitsu for older guys! He talks about what your goals should be and reframing your mentality as you age on the mats. He also talks about pitfalls to avoid like not regulating your intensity and comparing to others
BJJ Fanatics 656: Renato Canuto
Renato Canuto joins the show fresh off his professional MMA debut! He talks about his experience stepping into the cage, balancing grappling competitions with his MMA training, and gives a detailed breakdown of the 100 men vs a gorilla question!
BJJ Fanatics 655: Eric Silver
Eric Silver is one of the early Americans to study Jiu-Jitsu and one of the first to open a gym on the east coast. He talks about learning directly from Rickson Gracie, challenge matches, how to preserve energy as an older practitioner and Half Guard.
BJJ Fanatics 654: Murilo Mustamante
Living legend Murilo Bustamante joins the show to talk about his dedication to guiding the next generation of competitors and students. We discuss "old school" BJJ, creating pressure and surfing. Murilo also talks about learning to be patient as a coach.
BJJ Fanatics 653: Brian Glick
Brian Glick returns to talk about the importance of strong communication skills as a teacher, the skill of simplifying complex concepts to make them more digestible and why he chose Judo over Wrestling for BJJ. He also breaks down escaping back control
BJJ Fanatics 652: Jason Rau
Jason Rau returns to talk about growing his schools, the ethics and etiquette of filming training sessions, and how to track your own progress on the mats. He also gives a deep breakdown on his guard passing system!
BJJ Fanatics 651: Kyle Sleeman
Kyle "The Bull" Sleeman joins the show to talk about the BJJ scene in Canada, making competition second nature, developing a well rounded game and weight training for Jiu-Jitsu. He also details the road to becoming the #6 ranked athlete in his category!
BJJ Fanatics 650: Kurt Osiander
Kurt is back! He talks about his health, lifting weights, "old guy" Jiu-Jitsu and conspiracy theories. He also takes questions from listeners, which include dealing with people who fight dirty, dealing with gym drama, dumb tattoos and learning to teach.
BJJ Fanatics 649: Matt Castaneda
Matt Castaneda is a white belt who recently used Jiu-Jitsu he learned from BJJ Fanatics instructionals to defend himself and protect others from a violent attacker at his job. He shares the full story in detail!
BJJ Fanatics 648: Anthony Budion
Anthony Budion shares his story of training with prominent UFC fighters and his years with the NYPD, NYFD and USAF. He also shares insight on growing a school. Other topics include pizza, the heavyweight rodents of NY and using the Crabride for counters!
BJJ Fanatics 647: Tom DeBlass
Tom DeBlass joins the show to talk about bullying, being consistent in training while battling depression, and some final thoughts on his recent debate about the Ecological approach in Jiu-Jitsu. He also gives some technical insight on Half Guard!
BJJ Fanatics 646: Charles Harriott
Charles Harriott returns to talk etiquette when visiting another school, the pros and cons of running a tournament, advice for future promoters, knee bars and how growing up in Florida has prepared him to battle some of nature's most deadly creatures!
BJJ Fanatics 645: Neil Melanson
Neil Melanson returns to talk about attacking structures in grappling, funky gyms he's visited and the origin of the K Guard. He also shares the story of dying and coming back to life recently. Other topics include Bigfoot, Mothman and predatory birds
BJJ Fanatics 644: David Petrone
David Petrone joins the show to talk about the increasing physical intensity seen in competitive grappling. Clubbing collar ties, neck cranks, smother chokes, and the psychological warfare side of grappling are all discussed in this episode!
BJJ Fanatics 643: Roger Machado
Roger Machado joins the show to talk about the zen side of Jiu-Jitsu. Topics include ego-less training, mindful teaching and he explains how Yoga has had a dramatic impact not only on his body, but the way he approaches Jiu-Jitsu.
BJJ Fanatics 642: Tomer Alroy
Tomer Alroy returns to discuss competition strategy and tactics. He also shares how a well-prepared competition training room should feel very much like the actual competition so that the athlete is completely prepared. He also discusses the mental game
BJJ Fanatics 641: John Machado
John Machado joins the show to share his insights on what the "BJJ Lifestyle" means in modern times. He also shares stories from the old days in Rio De Janeiro as well as old stories from the early days in the US.
BJJ Fanatics 640: Robson Moura
Robson Moura returns to talk about the keys to remaining consistent on the mats, finding motivation to train later in life and he hints at a possible return to competition!
BJJ Fanatics 639: Kurt Osiander
Kurt is back! He gives an entertaining recap of the Olympics, ADCC and CJI. He also takes questions from listeners and talks metal bands, craziness in California and eating exotic animals.
BJJ Fanatics 638: Adele Fornarino
ADCC Champ Adele Fornarino joins the show to share her story! Topics include advice for smaller grapplers, managing distance, competitive personality types and steroids in women's Jiu-Jitsu. She also discusses Fortnite and dangerous Aussie wildlife!
BJJ Fanatics 637: Flavio Canto
Flavio Canto joins the show to talk about overcoming losses, competing on the Olympic stage, how he benefited from learning Jiu-Jitsu during his Judo career and developing the Canto Choke. He also talks about his social project "Instituto Reacao"
BJJ Fanatics 636: Joel Tudor
Joel Tudor returns to talk about recently getting his Judo black belt and how the art has changed his perspective on grappling. He also talks about balance and injury prevention.
BJJ Fanatics 635: Silverfox Pravec
Silverfox is back! In this episode we discuss injury prevention, selecting your rolls, being mindful of training partners and using the armbar to its full potential! He also talks about the importance of instructors having the ability to read the room.
BJJ Fanatics 634: Henry Akins
Henry Akins joins the show to talk about the importance of defense in your game. He covers several defensive categories and explains how ultimately, a solid defense allows you to be free in the way you express your Jiu-Jitsu.
BJJ Fanatics 633: Travis Stevens
Travis Stevens returns to talk about the current state of American Judo, his thoughts on BJJ athletes crossing over to Judo competition and the pros and cons of tradition in martial arts. He also talks about mindset and assessing your skills honestly.
BJJ Fanatics 632: Shintaro Higashi
Shintaro Higashi joins the show to talk about applying Judo techniques in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. He also explains how to train safely and "trade wins" for optimal results. He also discusses how to break the linear learning cycle commonly seen in BJJ
BJJ Fanatgics 631: Fabio Gurgel
If you've ever considered opening your own gym, this episode is a must-listen! Master Fabio Gurgel shares knowledge he's collected from decades of running one of the largest teams in BJJ. He covers best practices, costs and income potential for gym owners
BJJ Fanatics podcast 630: Rigan Machado
Rigan Machado joins the show to talk about Old School Jiu-Jitsu, the importance of keeping up with modern trends in the art and Jiu-Jitsu in film choreography. He also talks about what he feels BJJ needs to do to reach more mainstream viewers.
BJJ Fanatics Podcast 629: Shawn Williams
Shawn Williams returns to talk about ADCC vs CJI, the standards of a black belt, overcoming self-doubt and developing sliding skills. He also covers effective coaching methods and dives deep on the body lock!
BJJ Fanatics 628: Adam Wardzinski
Adam Wardzinski joins the show fresh off his history-making World Championship. He talks about the lifestyle and work ethic it took to achieve this accomplishment and he gives advice to aspiring future champions. He also talks about the Octopus Guard!
BJJ Fanatics 627: Kurt Osiander
Kurt is back and in better shape than ever! He talks about lifting weights, setting up take downs, using swords in a street fight and CJI vs ADCC. He also takes questions from listeners and gives tips on fighting both wild animals and leg lockers!
BJJ Fanatics 626: Paul Schreiner
Paul Schreiner joins the show to discuss the various methods that are being used to teach Jiu-Jitsu. He shares his thoughts on what has worked best for him and his students. We discuss the ecological approach and linear method and their differences
BJJ Fanatics 625: Rolles Gracie
Rolles Gracie joins the show to talk about creating an environment that helps students learn faster, upper belts mentoring lower belts and his thoughts on the practice of testing for belts. He also gives advice for white belts.
BJJ Fanatics 624: Renato Canuto
Renato Canuto joins the show to talk about pay for Jiu-Jitsu athletes, his upcoming MMA debut and his open-minded approach to rolling and competing. He also dives deep on improving your armbar success rate and how to fix holes in your game!
BJJ Fanatics 623: Roy Dean
Roy Dean returns to discuss the different levels of mastery that exist in Jiu-Jitsu that become more obvious as you pursue the art over time. Things like strategy, creating and recognizing traps and the importance of using Kazushi are all topics we cover!
BJJ Fanatics 622: Kurt Osiander
Kurt is back to talk about how much AI is freaking him out, his thoughts on a possible global robot takeover and surgical bio-hacking upgrades that he is interested in getting. He also takes questions from the listeners about Jiu-Jitsu and anything else!
BJJ Fanatics 621: Yuri Simoes
Yuri Simoes makes his long-awaited return to the show! He talks about what drives him to compete and how he processes losses as a highly competitive personality type. He also talks about assessing your performances honestly and he shares his unique phobia!
BJJ Fanatics 620: Malachy Friedman
Malachy Friedman returns to discuss some of the common misinterpretations regarding what effective training is. He also explains how some of his injuries actually made him better on the mats. He also talks in depth about the student/teacher relationship
BJJ Fanatics 619: Giancarlo Bodoni
Giancarlo returns to talk about the importance of having clear aspirations as a Jiu-Jitsu student in order to reach your goals. He also explains that recreational practitioners can reach similar skill levels to elite athletes if they are consistent
BJJ Fanatics 618: Eli Knight
Eli Knight returns to talk about overcoming frustrations in training. We all get stuck sometimes, Eli sheds some light on how to push through! He also talks about the fine line academy owners walk when giving life advice or guidance outside of Jiu-Jitsu
BJJ Fanatics Podcast 617 - Michael Chu
Michael Chu is a black belt under Clark Gracie with a very interesting life story. In this episode, he details how he went from being a police officer, to a federal inmate, to a Jiu-Jitsu school owner in Hawaii. He also gives tips on the rear triangle!
BJJ Fanatics 616: Lucas Pinheiro
Lucas Pinheiro joins the show to tell his story of coming up from hardship to becoming a world champion! He explains how building a positive mindset in any circumstances he faced was crucial to his success. He also shares his pressure passing mindset!
BJJ Fanatics 615: Brian Glick
Brian Glick talks about how personality types will influence the way we learn Jiu-Jitsu. He also explains why sometimes the people who seem the best suited to excel don't last. He also explains why you should train on days you aren't feeling your best!
BJJ Fanatics 614: Marcelo Garcia
Marcelo Garcia joins the show to reflect on surviving cancer, tips to train consistently, building a game that works in both Gi and No-Gi, pacing yourself in competition, and the future of Jiu-Jitsu. He also gives deep insight on the Butterfly Guard!
BJJ Fanatics 613: Kurt Osiander
Kurt is back to talk about rolling with new tattoos, practical self defense skills, tasers and attack dogs, looting and creative robberies in San Francisco and his love/hate relationship with public nudity. He also takes questions from the listeners!
BJJ Fanatics 612: Robert Drysdale
Robert Drysdale talks about the history and future of Jiu-Jitsu. From the history of the rules, to the conundrum of needing a sport to grow the art. He also explains why he feels submission only events and rule sets are a mistake for the growth of the art
BJJ Fanatics 611: Alec Baulding
Alec Baulding returns to talk about his recent decision to return to a student role instead of teaching, how to balance digital learning, how to process tapping higher ranks and Apple Vision for BJJ! He also talks about guard retention for short people.
BJJ Fanatics 610: Diego Pato
Diego "Pato" Oliveira joins the show to share his very moving life story from leaving home at 15 to pursue Jiu-Jitsu, to training without food for days on end and how hunger led to his first sponsorship. Hear about his incredible journey to becoming a world champion!
BJJ Fanatics 609: Alex Enriquez
Alex Enriquez joins the show to talk about pursuing Wrestling to improve her Jiu-Jitsu, becoming the team captain of an all-male team and how her drive to prove herself pushed her to break barriers. She also covers anti-wrestling for BJJ players!
BJJ Fanatics 608: Kurt Osiander
Kurt is back to talk about rolling after surgery, amputations and bandit life in the Wild West, strategically crying from Half Guard, serial killers and mafia hit men. He also covers dealing with larger opponents and his hatred for handsome celebrities.
BJJ Fanatics 607: Kent Peters
Kent Peters is back! He discusses terrible pre-training food, organic mat sanitizers that probably don't work, steroids and testosterone, managing a training room and wrist locks. Kent also shares how he recently almost lost a nipple due to a horse bite.
BJJ Fanatics 606: Jozef Chen
Jozef Chen joins the show to explain the importance of training with intent, how to process an instructional and the value of keeping a training journal. He also talks about getting jumped at a gym, Crocs, fanny packs, karaoke and fake Chinese food!
BJJ Fanatics 605: Owen Jones
Owen Jones joins the show to talk about processing losses as a highly competitive person, facing weaknesses honestly, being patient with your development, his passion for video games and the fact that Jiu-Jitsu's talent pool is younger than ever!
BJJ Fanatics 604: Piter Frank
Piter Frank joins the show to talk about succeeding with limited resources, building an offensive game and flying submissions. He also shares a candid story about getting through homelessness and a suicide attempt just before becoming a world champion
BJJ Fanatics 603: Rani Yahya
ADCC legend and UFC fighter Rani Yahya joins the show to talk about how BJJ helped him overcome ADD, training with Rickson Gracie, the early days of ADCC, statistics in Jiu-Jitsu and why they are important to analyze and using BJJ in MMA
BJJ Fanatics 602: Javier Vazquez
Javi Vazquez joins the show to talk about surviving his recent battle with cancer, the power of understanding configurations, transitional wormholes, defending punches on the ground and the two controls in BJJ that change EVERYTHING.
BJJ Fanatics 601: Miko Hytonen
Miko Hytonen joins the show for a very candid conversation about how Jiu-Jitsu saved him from his troubled past to become one of the top BJJ influencers. He talks about leaving gang life, growing his IG page and how to land chokes from everywhere!
BJJ Fanatics 600: Garry Tonon
Garry Tonon discusses why he's not a fan of the transactional mindset many students have towards their training, the danger of limiting techniques, bridging the gaps between different concepts and how mentorship changed the trajectory of his life.
BJJ Fanatics 599: Tarik Hopstock
Tarik Hopstock joins the show to explain how training as a juvenile in adult classes helped shape his game. He also talks about how he leads his students into the areas they need to improve upon and setting goals for technical development!
BJJ Fanatics 598: Owen Livesey
Owen Livesey joins the show to talk about how to fight on your feet more effectively. He explains that people often over-think things like hand fighting and he provides a simple way to think about winning the grip fight to score more take downs!
BJJ Fanatics 597: Dominique Bell
Dominique Bell joins the show to talk about going from the ARMY to fulltime Jiu-Jitsu athlete. He shares his thoughts on training, goal setting and injury prevention. He also talks with Ryan about knock-off cereal brands and his fear of roaches!
BJJ Fanatics 596: Neil Melanson
Neil Melanson returns to talk about setting traps in grappling, the value of creating dilemmas and why you should program sequences in your mind, especially for No-Gi. He also talks about controlling various body types and funny nicknames on the mats
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