Benny Drohan Podcast Podcast By Little Fish Media cover art

Benny Drohan Podcast

Benny Drohan Podcast

By: Little Fish Media
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Fighting stories of resilience, redemption, and mental health. Shit hands. Wild turns. Brutal setbacks. Big wins. Impact that inspires big moves. I’ve lived it. Over 30 years battling shame, addiction and self-destruction. Now I share stories of people who kept fighting when life tried to break them. Believing in themselves when no one else did. Even when they were at war with their own mind. 🥊 Stay in the fkn fight.Little Fish Media Biographies & Memoirs Social Sciences
Episodes
  • From Street Violence to Bali’s Toughest Fight Club
    Mar 15 2026

    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.

    📲 Follow Mike:

    ⁠Instagram⁠

    ⁠Facebook

    🥋 Follow Soma Fight Club:

    Instagram

    Website

    🥊 Follow Benny:

    ⁠Instagram⁠

    ⁠TikTok⁠

    ⁠Facebook⁠

    🎙️ Follow Benny Drohan Podcast:

    ⁠YouTube⁠

    ⁠Spotify⁠

    ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

    👇 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

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • From a Racist, Violent Home to the World’s Most Dangerous Combat Sport
    Mar 1 2026

    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

    📲 Follow Locky:

    Instagram

    YouTube

    🥊 Follow Benny:

    Instagram

    TikTok

    Facebook

    🎙️ Follow Benny Drohan Podcast:

    YouTube

    Spotify

    Apple Podcasts

    👇 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

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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Nick “Special K” Kara: Street Fights to the Underworld’s Hit List
    Feb 15 2026

    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

    📲 Follow Nick:

    Instagram

    🥊 Follow Benny:

    Instagram

    TikTok

    Facebook

    🎙️ Follow Benny Drohan Podcast:

    YouTube

    Spotify

    Apple Podcasts

    👇 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

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    1 hr and 22 mins
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