Jiu-jitsu stories from inside the academy.
Alberto Crane Show sits close to the academy floor, where coaches, fighters, wrestlers, authors, and students talk through the lives behind their training. The episodes move from competition stories to family, mentorship, food, books, and the strange lessons that come from staying in the sport.
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Alberto Crane Show is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu conversation series with the feel of a busy academy after training. The episodes are casual, warm, and often messy in the natural way real mat talk can be messy. A question about where someone grew up can turn into a discussion of coaching children, modeling behavior, and what a black belt means before it is ever earned. A champion's resume can open the door to old tournaments, small gyms, moves across states, family choices, and the friendships that keep people in the sport. The show is built less around hot takes than around lived memory. It trusts the long answer. Rodrigo Brand brings psychology, writing, coaching, and a story-heavy sense of how wishes can become complicated realities. Alexander Valerio's episode turns nerves and overthinking into a grounded conversation about mentorship at Legacy. Michelle Dillamore's visit centers on the book Alberto Crane All In and the idea that a fight life can become useful to someone else when it is told honestly. Joey Alvarado's episode is looser and funnier, moving from Japan and student support to food, animals, gala plans, and academy affection. Fabio Passos brings the business and daily grind of jiu-jitsu into the same frame as passion and competition prep. Roberto Tusa Alencar reconnects fight history with family, Gracie Barra, New Mexico, Orange County, and early super fight memories. Dwayne Bang Ludwig brings martial arts longevity, striking, old fight circuits, and the feeling of people who are still in the game because it is where they belong. Gregory Torosian's episode adds a younger wrestling perspective, where jiu-jitsu, takedowns, intensity, and rapid progress all meet. Across the catalog, the recurring subject is not only how to win. It is how to stay. The show keeps asking what training builds in a person, what a gym gives back, and why community events can matter almost as much as class. It suits listeners who already understand the language of belts, tournaments, professors, and academy life. It also gives outsiders a clear view of why these spaces become families.
Made for: For Brazilian jiu-jitsu students, coaches, competitors, and fight-sport fans who enjoy long-form conversations grounded in real academy culture. It especially suits listeners who care about mentorship, community, and the personal history behind martial arts careers.
What sets it apart: The show separates itself from technique-first martial arts podcasts by treating the gym as a social world, not just a training room. Its best moments come from informal stories that connect competition, coaching, loyalty, gratitude, and everyday life on the mats.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Fighting, the Brain and Human Potential
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes combat sports legible through candid conversations about competition, coaching, character, and the communities formed on the mat.
Alberto Crane Show treats martial arts as a practice built between people, with the host drawing coaches and competitors into patient conversations about training, setbacks, and responsibility.
A black belt becomes a character question here, if rank alone never quite satisfies you.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Brand turns loose stories about cars, brotherhood, and training into a warm reflection on sustaining a jiu-jitsu community.
Rodrigo Brand's conversation with the host starts in familiar gym territory, with Marcelo Garcia sponsorship, a bobblehead joke, and X guard giving the episode an easy, lived-in frame.
Joey Alvarado's Japan trip opens into a warm, loose talk about gym culture, gratitude, food, animals, and community.
Joey Alvarado's upcoming Japan competition gives this episode of The Alberto Crane Show a natural spine, but the warmer pull is the surprise fundraiser being assembled around him.
A reflective memoir conversation about jiu-jitsu, second chances, and staying true through losses.
The Alberto Crane Show shifts from jiu-jitsu into memoir-making, as Alberto Crane and Michelle Dillamore discuss the collaboration behind Alberto Crane All In.
A warm jiu-jitsu conversation about a blue belt learning how mentors become models for coaching and community.
Coach Alexander Valerio joins The Alberto Crane Show for a grounded conversation that starts with his nerves about speaking into a microphone and gradually opens into the places that shaped him, including North Hollywood, Webb, Sun Valley, and Burbank.
A candid look at how a state title is shaped by setbacks, pressure, and the people who keep a wrestler steady.
Sam Sachs's high school wrestling rise gives the episode its spine, with a 2025 CIF state title, a Fargo championship, a preseason national title, and a path toward Iowa set against the losses and injuries that made the climb less tidy than the results suggest.
A grounded jiu-jitsu conversation about black belts, character, students, and the family around Alberto's work.
The Alberto Crane Show starts with a simple shift in perspective and turns it into a bigger question about what a black belt means after years spent teaching, promoting students, and watching people change.
Jiu-jitsu stories from beyond the scoreboard.
Mat talk, jokes, and practical jiu-jitsu.
Discipline after the hype fades.
Old-school karate, pressure-tested for real life.
Mat talk with mileage.
Blunt BJJ talk for getting less stuck.
Alberto Crane interviews Sam Sachs, a top-ranked female wrestler and recent state champion who will attend the University of Iowa.
Alberto Crane interviews a four-time blackbird world champion about iconic matches and the golden era of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Alberto Crane says a white belt is mainly about courage, humility, and showing up on a schedule, not chasing wins.
Rodrigo Brand describes walking into Club Hollywood and getting submitted by Renato Zambonaro in his first jiu-jitsu roll.
"I believe in my technique" turns food poisoning, a three-person bracket, and an open-weight run into a win.
Alex Valerio says a black belt means "teacher" and "mentor," not just rank.
Joey Alvarado says the fighting “went to sleep” during COVID, then woke back up for Japan.
Host Alberto Crane interviews Fabio Passos, a 5th degree BJJ black belt, about his journey, training, and preparation for Master Worlds.
Host Alberto Crane interviews BJJ legend Roberto Tusa Alencar about his career and background.
Host Alberto Crane interviews MMA veteran Marcos Bonilla about running his gym, balancing family life, and aging in combat sports.
Host Alberto Crane interviews UFC veteran and striking coach Dwayne Bang Ludwig about their shared history in martial arts and the evolution of fighting.
Interview with Greg Trocian, a Fargo Greco-Roman champion, discussing his wrestling journey and love for the sport.
Host Alberto Crane reconnects with an old friend and BJJ black belt, George Anders, discussing their history and George's journey from the Army to owning a BJJ gym.
Interview with Paul Schreiner, a renowned BJJ black belt, discussing his journey, teaching style, and opening a new academy.