From East Auckland Street violence and not expecting to make it past 21 to building Bali’s toughest fight club.

Mike Ikilei, founder of Soma Fight Club, opens up about growing up comfortable with violence, the moment a gym pulled him back from the edge, and how Soma became a global destination for fighters and more family than a facility.

He talks about fatherhood, community, the ANZAC toughness that shaped him, and why titles are just byproducts of giving everything.

If you’ve ever felt pulled toward chaos, struggled with direction, or wanted more from yourself, this conversation shows what happens when violence is turned into purpose.

Mike shares the mindset behind Soma, the standards he lives by, and the code that built one of the world’s most respected fight communities.

We break down the story behind the Soma name, the mission driving the movement, and what comes next.

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👇 Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:01:41 Did Soma Become What Mike Originally Envisioned?

00:04:09 Growing Up in East Auckland

00:09:08 The Gym That Changed Mike’s Life

00:14:01 Moving to Bali and Taking the Risk

00:29:09 Building Soma Fight Club From Scratch

00:31:26 How Soma Built a Global Fight Community

00:33:07 The Biggest Challenge Facing New Gyms

00:38:41 Building the Soma Brand

00:43:03 The Story Behind the Name Soma

00:46:32 Protecting the Culture Inside Soma

00:51:40 Coaching India’s First UFC Fighter

01:02:34 Outro

🥋 Stay in the fkn Fight

Locky Tinhla grew up mixed-race with a violent, racist father before going on to fight bare-knuckle in Myanmar, inside the world’s most brutal combat sport.

He opens up about the impact that environment had on his identity and mental health, how early exposure to violence shaped his worldview, and the years of self-destruction that nearly broke him before he found something that gave him direction.

That search led him to Lethwei, the traditional Burmese bare-knuckle fighting sport widely regarded as the most brutal combat sport on earth. Locky explains how he discovered Lethwei, why it stood apart from every other fighting discipline, and what pushed him to fly to Myanmar, despite it being a red, do-not-travel zone, to take his first fight with minimal preparation.

Now known as Australia’s only active Lethwei fighter, Locky breaks down what it was really like stepping into the ring in Myanmar, the realities of bare-knuckle fighting under Lethwei rules, and why he continues to return to one of the most dangerous combat environments in the world.

This episode is a raw, unfiltered conversation about violence, identity, risk, and what it means to choose a path that everything and everyone says you shouldn’t.

If this episode brings anything up for you, you do not have to carry it alone.

If you are in Australia, you can contact MensLine Australia: 1300 78 99 78. Free, confidential support for men, 24 hours a day.

If you are in immediate danger or need urgent help, contact Lifeline: 13 11 14

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👇 Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:22 What Is Lethwei? (Burmese Bare Knuckle Fighting)

02:56 Who Is Locky Tinhla?

04:38 Identity Struggle

10:49 Mental Health Battle

19:31 Recovery & Finding Purpose

22:28 Luky’s Role in the Comeback

30:47 The Lethwei Gym Journey

36:10 Getting Asked to Fight

47:01 First Lethwei Fight

50:45 The Only Aussie to Fight Lethwei in Myanmar

51:56 How Many Fights Since the First?

58:42 How Locky Became a Content Creator

🥋 Stay in the fkn Fight

Nick “Special K” Kara is an OG fighting legend, a world-champion kickboxer whose journey from Melbourne street fights to the wild underbelly of Pattaya, Thailand, and the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter, is one of the wildest and jaw-dropping stories you’ll ever hear.

For the first time, Nick opens up about his violent past, addiction, near-death experience, redemption and faith, from starring in cult Muay Thai film Ong-Bak to landing on Melbourne’s underworld hit list and somehow surviving it all.

He went from street chaos to movie sets, from world titles to hospital beds, fighting for his life. This is the untold story of a man who lost everything, found faith, and fought his way back.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to climb out of rock bottom and rebuild, this episode will hit hard.

Stay till the end as Nick reveals how he finally found peace, purpose, and his reason to keep fighting.

If this episode brings anything up for you, you do not have to carry it alone.

If you are in Australia, you can contact MensLine Australia: 1300 78 99 78. Free, confidential support for men, 24 hours a day.

If you are in immediate danger or need urgent help, contact Lifeline: 13 11 14

🥷 Watch Nick in action:

Onk-Bak Fight Scene vs Tony Jaa

World Title Fight vs Manson Gibson

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👇 Chapters:

00:00:00: Intro

00:00:55: Who is Nick Kara

00:03:19: hen Nick first discovered fighting

00:10:11: The start of his Thailand journey

00:12:56: Three major legal troubles

00:16:33: Ending up in Thailand

00:19:40: Where “Special K” comes from

00:21:43: How Nick Kara landed a role in Ong-Bak

00:28:38: Fighting Manson Gibson

00:32:45: Winning the world title

00:37:26: The addiction phase of Kara’s life

00:38:56: The underground hit list

00:45:45: Becoming a boxing coach

01:01:07: Waking up in the hospital

01:20:29: Outro

🥋 Stay in the fkn Fight

At 14 years old, I woke up with a knife pressed against my throat as my older brother attempted to murder me and my entire family. That night changed everything. The next 30 years became a spiral of violence, addiction, self-destruction, and chaos that I could not escape. This is the story I have kept in the dark until now.

In this episode, I share the truth about that night, what led to it, and how surviving an attempted murder shaped every decision I made afterwards. For the first time, I, Ben Drohan, open up about the relapses I hid, the lies I lived behind, the addictions that controlled me, and the way trauma drove the next three decades of my life.

I talk about the drugs, the near jail moments, the business failures, the relationships I destroyed, and the people who stood by me when they probably should not have. I also share the final days of my mum’s life, how grief forced me to confront everything I had been running from, and the moment faith finally brought clarity after years of chaos.

Hold onto your fkn hat because this is confronting, honest, and unfiltered. If you have lived through trauma, battled addiction, carried shame, lost your way, or wondered if change is still possible after decades of self-destruction, this story is for you.

This is my untold story. This is the beginning of the Benny Drohan Podcast. This is proof that it is never too late, no matter what you have done or how far you have fallen. You just need to stay in the fkn fight.

If this episode brings anything up for you, you do not have to carry it alone.

If you are in Australia, you can contact MensLine Australia: 1300 78 99 78. Free, confidential support for men, 24 hours a day.

If you are in immediate danger or need urgent help, contact Lifeline: 13 11 14

🥊 Follow Benny:

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🎙️ Follow Benny Drohan Podcast:

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👇 Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:27 My Story

00:08:54 The Night My Brother Tried to Kill My Family

00:26:08 How Addiction Almost Sent Me to Jail

00:34:54 What Addiction Really Is

00:48:10 Why I Finally Stopped Destroying My Life

01:02:22 What Life Looks Like Today

01:04:41 A Final Message

🥋 Stay in the fkn Fight

Something big is happening with the show.

This is not just another episode. It is the moment everything changes. We open up about why, what it means, and where we are heading next.

If you have ever supported us this is the one to watch.

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Paul Watkins set out alone into the Arctic wilderness.

No food. No shelter. No backup plan.

What started as an adventure became a near-death fight to survive.

Eight days. Frostbite. Starvation. Isolation.

Hallucinations so vivid he couldn’t tell what was real.

He saw trucks and workers that weren’t there.

He heard fighter jets that never came.

He believed a woman was following him the polar explorer “third man effect.”

👇 Here’s what’s inside:

• How a simple plan spiralled into an 8-day survival nightmare
• The terrifying hallucinations that almost pushed him over the edge
• The mental games of isolation and how he nearly gave up
• The brutal signs of hypothermia and frostbite he ignored
• The moment he thought he wouldn’t make it back alive

This one will leave you shaking your head at what the human body — and mind — can endure.

🔥 Full poddy out now everywhere

LFG, it’ll change the way you see survival forever 🤌

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He was a cannabis adversary.

Now he’s growing 5,000 kilos a year... and risked $14 million to do it.

Tom Varga went from corporate banker to cannabis farmer… and nearly lost everything trying to make it work.

Today he runs Biortica Agrimed, Australia’s fastest-growing medicinal cannabis company, leading a new era for medical cannabis nationwide.

This isn’t just a business story. It’s a wild ride from sceptic to CEO, from stigma to scale, from dismissing weed to betting everything on it. Tom opens up about battling red tape, surviving Covid, and why patients still turn to the black market despite cannabis being legal.

👇 Here’s what’s inside:

• The moment a sceptic became a believer — and why
• How $10M raised for the farm disappeared overnight when Covid hit
• Mortgaging every property to keep Biortica Agrimed alive
• Why patients still turn to the black market despite cannabis being legal
• The staggering reality: 1 million kilos consumed every year in Australia
• The secrets, stigma, and scale of Australia’s booming medicinal cannabis industry

LFG it will change the way you see cannabis forever 🚀

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Dr John Tickell was told he had 18 months to live. Instead, he beat terminal brain cancer — then uncovered the brutal truth about Australia’s health crisis.From elite AFL doctor to best-selling author and longevity expert, Dr Tickell joins Benny and Pete to expose the lie that’s quietly killing millions — and the real solution he used to survive.This one’s part survival story, part wake-up call.

👇Here's What's Inside

• How John Tickell survived brain cancer against all odds
• The deadly “Western lifestyle” lie fuelling disease in Australia
• The Okinawan diet, immunotherapy and why longevity is misunderstood
• The health advice he gave AFL stars (and ignores now)

What’s actually making you sick — and how to fight backHe beat death. Now he’s taking on the system.

Let’s fkn go

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