Looking for BJJ podcasts with great guests and insightful interviews? Then you’ve come to the right place!
The podcasts listed in this article will have an emphasis on interviews where grapplers talk about their beginnings in the sport, the injuries they’ve had to deal with, their training and drilling methods, and even what their favorite foods are. It brings a level of humanity to the individual that I enjoy and can identify with.
There are three lists in this article:
- 🎙️ The Main Five – The five top BJJ podcasts that I recommend.
- 🤔 Others – Podcasts that I’ve heard of but haven’t had a chance to try.
- ❌ Not BJJ – Podcasts that don’t focus on BJJ or grappling, but might have guests on who are from that world.
🎙️ The Main Five
This first list is composed of my main go-to BJJ podcasts. Any of the five are worth your time.
BJJ Fanatics Podcast (Formerly The Grappling Central Podcast)
Originally called The Grappling Central Podcast, the show was picked up by BJJ Fanatics and rolled into their podcast. With over 500+ episodes, host and BJJ brown belt Ryan Ford has interviewed the who’s who of the grappling competition scene.
In the middle of each episode is a segment that Ryan calls “The Pummel”, where he fires off several questions which include:
- What’s your favorite bad food to eat?
- What’s something you can’t eat?
- If you weren’t doing BJJ, what would you be doing?
- Who is on your BJJ Mount Rushmore?
- What was the scariest moment of your life?
- If you had a superpower, what would it be?
- Besides jiu jitsu, what do you wish you were better at?
All episodes feature a guest and run around an hour to two hours on average.
The Chewjitsu Podcast
Hosted by Nick “Chewy” Albin and his co-host, Dr. Eugene Tsozik, both BJJ black belts.
Chewy runs one of the most well know BJJ YouTube Channels, with over 305K subscribers. He does an excellent job of breaking down concepts and is a natural storyteller.
Eugene is a Physical Therapist who provides insights regarding flexibility, mobility, and injury prevention/rehabilitation.
The podcast not only has great guest interviews but also has episodes covering topics such as competition preparation, injury prevention, mental mindsets, and training methods. There are also Q&A episodes where Chewy and Eugene answer questions submitted by viewers/listeners.
The Strenuous Life
The podcast is hosted by Canadian BJJ black belt Stephan Kesting, a YouTuber, martial artist, and fire fighter. His podcast has its fair share of famous grappling guests, but also includes shorter episodes focused on a single topic.
Stephan’s experience in various martial arts (such as Judo, wrestling, and even Filipino stick fighting) provides a unique perspective on the training methods and culture associated with the other arts.
Interviews are normally over an hour while others can be from ten minutes to an hour.
BJJBrick
Probably one of the oldest BJJ podcasts on this list, BJJ Brick has tons of interviews and single topic episodes starting all the way back in 2013.
The show is hosted by BJJ black belts Byron Jabara, Gary Hull, and brown belt Joe Thomas.
Besides the more well-known guests, interviews also include up and coming athletes at the lower levels telling their stories about how they became involved with the art.
A couple of things to mention:
- The sound in the earlier episodes is rough. I’ve made my way through to episode 109, and somewhere along the way it did get better.
- Personally, I’m not a big fan of the humor/skits at the beginning and end of the episodes. Please don’t let my opinion deter you from listening, you might enjoy it (or just fast forward 😆)!
- I’ve been making my way through the episodes in chronological order, picking out ones that have interesting guests, but I do know that show’s format has changed recently. Starting in June 2021, the podcast has been recording five to ten minute single topic episodes. At the time of this writing, there hasn’t been a guest interview episode since July 2020.
BJJ Mental Models
Hosted by Canadian BJJ black belt Steve Kwan, this BJJ podcast takes a more conceptual approach to jiu-jitsu. Early episodes are focused on single concepts, mechanics, and mental models. Around episode 92 is when there was a switch to a more interview style podcast. The interviews will still focus on specific mental models that the guest will have expertise in and the insight they provide is often game changing.
If you’re looking for a BJJ podcast that will greatly improve your game at a conceptual level then don’t skip this one.
🤔 Others
Below is a list of podcasts that are highly rated but I just haven’t had the time to get to listen to them yet.
The Sonny Brown Break Down
Hosted by Australian BJJ black belt Sonny Brown, this podcast contains over 50 episodes which are all interviews with high level grapplers and coaches. Although it’s one of the newer podcasts, it includes some heavy hitters as guests.
The Raspberry Ape Podcast
Daniel “The Raspberry Ape” Strauss, a Roger Gracie black belt, started the podcast in 2016 and now has over 90 episodes each featuring an interview. Based in the UK, it’s able to have a ton of unique guests you don’t often see on other podcasts.
❌ Not BJJ
This is just a couple of podcasts that aren’t exactly grappling related but do offer some great interviews with individuals from the grappling world.
The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE)
One of the most well-known podcasts in the world, it also contains many great episodes and interviews with BJJ practitioners, coaches, and current/former UFC fighters. Joe is a black belt under the legendary Jean Jacques Machado (Gi) and Eddie Bravo (No-Gi), and a fight commentator for the UFC.
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex is a A.I. researcher teaching out of M.I.T. and a BJJ black belt. The guests on his podcast vary just as much as the JRE, but it also features BJJ, Judo, and MMA guests such as: John Danaher, Travis Stevens, Georges St-Pierre, Ryan Hall, Jimmy Pedro, and many more.