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There comes a point in every athlete's journey when the body is ready, but the mind isn't. Why does that happen? In this episode of the VRSS Podcast, psychologist and mental performance coach Anaïs Verny explains why pressure doesn't create new habits. It reveals the ones you've already built. Together, we explore why athletes overthink under pressure, how genuine self-trust is developed, and why the goal isn't to eliminate fear, but to perform alongside it. In this episode: why overthinking disrupts performancehow CBT and ACT help athletes respond differently to pressurewhy self-trust is built through evidence, not confidencehow visualisation complements physical trainingwhy nervousness isn't something to fearpractical tools for building confidence before competitionroutines, journalling, and success logs for improving performancehow to bounce back after setbacks and return to the process Anaïs Verny is a psychologist and mental performance coach based in Bangkok. Drawing on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and her own experience as a competitive golfer, she helps athletes develop practical strategies for performing under pressure. Whether you're a fighter, coach, or athlete in any sport, this conversation offers practical, evidence-informed strategies for building trust, regulating pressure, and performing closer to your true ability when it matters most. This is Anaïs Verny, and this is the VRSS Podcast. Like and subscribe to VRSS for conversations exploring the psychology, science, and soul of combat sports.

Puja Tomar didn't just make history. She made it from scratch. No gym. No coach. No blueprint. Just a dream she saw on a screen, a friend to train with in a park, and a stubbornness that outlasted every obstacle her culture, her country, and her circumstances could throw at her. In this episode, we sit down with the first Indian woman ever signed to the UFC - and we go all the way back to the beginning. We get into: What it meant to be born a girl in Uttar Pradesh - and the weight that came with it Her father's death, and the secret newspaper clipping he left behind Training in parks, watching YouTube, and building a fighting career with nothing Her first MMA fight and what she did with her earnings Stepping into ONE Championship with no corner and a stranger she'd just met The walk to the UFC cage and what she was thinking What she wants to open up for every girl watching from India Faith, loss, and finding peace inside the fight This is a story about what happens when the door doesn't exist yet - and you decide to build it anyway. This is Puja Tomar, and this is the VRSS podcast.

This episode was recorded just days after Ben Woolliss found out he would be making his ONE Championship debut - stepping up on short notice to face former world champion John Lineker. He had just under two weeks notice. But this was 20 years in the making. In this episode, we break down what it actually means to be ready at the highest level of combat sports. Ben Woolliss is a two-time kickboxing world champion and professional MMA fighter, with over two decades of experience across Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA. We get into: Preparing for a ONE Championship debut on short notice How 20 years of training shows up under pressure Emotional regulation and why Ben feels most calm in the ring How elite fighters use pattern recognition instead of reacting Fighting with Crohn’s disease and managing a chronic condition as an athlete What it’s like when your body won’t let you fight Rebuilding your body, mindset, and identity after setbacks The difference between obsession and discipline Building a life and business alongside fighting This is a conversation about readiness, resilience, and identity - and what it really takes to step into the moment when it finally comes. This is Ben Woolliss, and this is the VRSS podcast. 🔗 Join Ben’s 365 community: https://www.skool.com/365/about

What actually happens inside the body when fighters train hard, restrict food, dehydrate, and push past their limits - and how do you fuel champions without compromising long-term health? In this episode of the VRSS podcast, Liana sits down with Jordan Sullivan (aka The Fight Dietitian), one of the leading performance nutritionists in combat sports and the nutrition strategist behind multiple world champions, including Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya. Together, they explore both sides of elite performance: extreme stress and intelligent support. In this conversation, they discuss: How the body responds to extreme stress, restriction, and dehydration Why weight cutting sits in an extreme physiological zone The cultural and psychological reasons weight cutting persists Why regulation alone doesn’t solve the problem How chronic under-fuelling affects everyday athletes What proper fuelling looks like in high-performance environments Supplement strategy that supports performance rather than masks damage Stress, nervous system regulation, and recovery Individual variability, including female physiology and cyclesThe trade-off between short-term advantage and long-term health This episode is a grounded look at how elite athletes push the body to its limits - and how the right strategy can support performance without breaking the system designed to keep us alive.

What actually happens in your brain when a movement finally clicks? And why does thinking about it sometimes make everything fall apart under pressure? In this episode of the VRSS podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Timothy Carroll, one of the world’s leading researchers in motor control and motor learning at the University of Queensland. Tim studies how humans learn to move, and his work challenges many of the assumptions athletes and coaches hold about training, feedback, and performance. We explore why most skilled movement happens below conscious awareness, why thinking can slow you down, and why performance often breaks under pressure. We also unpack how the nervous system adapts through repetition and error, the role dopamine plays in learning and motivation, and why trust in your body isn’t a mindset trick but a neurological requirement. This conversation reframes how we think about practice, coaching, and mastery. Not as a process of control, but one of adaptation, exposure, and timing. If you’re an athlete, coach, or anyone trying to understand how skill actually develops, this episode will change how you see training and performance.

In this episode of the vrss podcast, we sit down with Sarah Jeffries to unpack the science of sleep, brain health, and performance - and why sleep may be the most overlooked skill in combat sports and high-performance training. Sarah is a registered nurse with a Master’s in Nursing Science, a nurse educator, and a leading voice in sleep education. She breaks down what’s actually happening in your brain when you sleep, including how deep sleep and REM sleep work together to support recovery, learning, emotional regulation, and long-term brain health. We explore: Why sleep is a trainable skill, not a personality trait What “cleaning your brain” actually means from a neuroscience perspective How sleep deprivation affects focus, reaction time, mood, and performance The role of deep sleep in muscle repair, hormones, and recovery Why REM sleep matters for memory, learning, and emotional resilience How poor sleep disrupts appetite, decision-making, and training consistency Practical, evidence-based tools to improve sleep without biohacks or gimmicks This conversation is especially relevant for fighters, athletes, coaches, and anyone training hard - but it’s just as important for anyone navigating stress, pressure, or high cognitive load. Sleep is free. It’s foundational.And it’s one of the most powerful tools you have - if you know how to use it.

John Wayne Parr is one of the most influential figures in modern Muay Thai. In this episode, he looks back on a lifetime in the sport: from sleeping on wooden floors in Thailand as the only Westerner in camp, to becoming the first Australian to fight at Lumpini Stadium, to surviving 347 stitches across a career defined by resilience, reinvention, and an unshakeable love for the fight. We talk about the culture of Thai gyms in the 90s, what poverty taught him, the fighters who shaped his style, the ghosts he swears visited him in his room, and the mindset that carried him through cuts, knockdowns, and some of the toughest athletes in the world. He also shares how he’s passing the torch to the next generation as his three children rise in boxing, BJJ and MMA. If you’re a fan of Muay Thai history, Australian combat sports, K1, or the evolution of striking, this is an entertaining, honest conversation with a pioneer who helped change the sport. Topics: • Training in Thai camps in the 90s • Fighting at Lumpini Stadium • K1 and the UFC • Humour, fear, superstition and ghost stories • Surviving cuts, knockdowns and 347 stitches • Raising the next generation of fighters • What legacy really means in combat sports

Pressure doesn’t mean something’s wrong - it means something matters. In this episode, world-leading performance psychologist Jonah Oliver explains why discomfort is the gateway to growth, and why trying to control your thoughts or emotions is the very thing that undermines performance. With over two decades working across elite sport and high-stakes environments - from Olympic athletes, UFC fighters, and Formula One drivers, to AFL clubs, corporate leaders, surgeons, and top-tier teams - Jonah blends sports psychology, neuroscience, and behavioural science into a practical and deeply human approach to high performance. We explore: • the paradox of control (why fighting fear makes it stronger) • experiential avoidance and how it quietly sabotages performance • the relationship between arousal, attention, and decision-making • how values-based clarity creates real composure under pressure • why seeking discomfort trains the mind more effectively than “positive thinking” ever could • the difference between confidence and competence • what true game day readiness looks and feels like If you’re an athlete, coach, fighter, creator, or anyone who performs under pressure, this conversation offers a new framework for mental toughness - one grounded not in suppressing emotion, but in understanding it.

When everything starts to go wrong - bad calls, unfair moments, missed shots - what separates fighters who spiral from those who stay composed? Performance psychologist Dr Michelle Pain has spent decades helping athletes build mental toughness and regulate emotion under pressure. She helped establish one of Australia’s first sport psychology programs at Monash University, introduced psychological testing to the AFL draft, and has coached Olympians, professional club players, and esports competitors to perform at their peak. In this episode, we dive deep into tilt - the emotional hijack that happens when expectations and reality collide. Together, we unpack: Why anger and frustration spike when things feel unfair What your TILT type reveals about your triggers How to develop quick “anti-tilt” resets to regain focus and composure The difference between telic and paratelic states (and how to use music to control energy) Why awareness and introspection are the ultimate mental-skills tools for fighters and high performers Whether you’re an athlete, fighter, coach, or competitor, this episode gives you practical tools to stay composed under pressure and master emotional regulation in the heat of competition. This is Dr Michelle Pain, and this is the vrss podcast.

This episode was recorded on 8 October 2025, five days after ONE Championship Friday Fights 127. Tyson Harrison, one of the most exciting fighters in ONE Championship’s Bantamweight Division, sat down with us still carrying the weight of his loss - the silence, the anger, the processing. What followed wasn’t an interview. It was a conversation about truth, resilience, and what it means to face yourself after the lights go out. Tyson spoke about the fight, his relationship with pain, the legacy of “John Wayne Noi,” and the purpose he’s still writing for himself. This is the fight after the fight. This is Tyson Harrison, and this is the vrss podcast.

This isn’t a story about opening a gym - it’s a story about building a community through chaos. When the Monash City Council shut down his new gym just a week after opening, Vinh Le, founder of Honour Martial Arts in Melbourne, faced the toughest fight of his career - one that had nothing to do with the ring. For nine months, his doors stayed closed while he battled permits, panic attacks, and the fear of losing everything he’d built. But through that chaos, Vinh discovered a different kind of strength: faith, resilience, and the power of community. In this episode, Vinh shares how he rebuilt from the ground up, turning setback into purpose and building a gym that’s become a family. We talk about what it means to lead with empathy, to hold your values when everything’s falling apart, and why the soul of martial arts lies in the people, not the punches. Listen for: The absurd 9-month shutdown storyHow faith helped him find clarity in chaosThe values behind Honour Martial ArtsWhat it takes to build a true martial-arts community

What if training isn’t about becoming your best self, but making sure your worst self can still win? That’s the philosophy of Luke Howard: a judo black belt, jiu-jitsu brown belt, and former pro MMA fighter who’s competed across nearly every discipline. By the time he was 18, he had qualified for the judo world championships. After breaking his back and enduring shoulder reconstructions, Luke shifted into MMA, fighting professionally from his very first bout. Today, he’s grown to be one of the most respected coaches both in Bali and beyond, cornering fighters from around the world and building an online community of nearly half a million followers. In this conversation, Luke opens up about: The mental toughness behind stress drills designed to make you lose How to shorten the feedback loop so fighters actually improve-What nerves really mean - and how to harness them on fight night This episode dives deep into the mindset shifts that every fighter faces - lessons that reshape how you approach both training and competition.

What does it really mean to be “in the zone”? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Sue Jackson, co-author of Flow in Sports with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and creator of the Flow State Scale and Dispositional Flow Scale - the tools researchers still use to study peak performance. Together, we explore: What flow is, and why it matters in sport and life.The nine dimensions of flow and how athletes can access them.How tools like the Flow State Scale help fighters and coaches reflect and improve.Why anxiety, pressure, and distraction can kill flow, and how to manage them.Practical strategies to find flow more often, whether you’re a fighter, runner, or weekend athlete.Dr. Jackson shares insights from decades of research, showing how flow isn’t just a lucky state - it’s something you can learn to invite, train, and apply far beyond sport.

Olympic boxer Tony Jeffries - a 7-time British national champion and Olympic bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Games - shares the fight of his life: what happens when boxing ends. In this episode, Tony opens up about: - Competing on the Olympic stage while battling fear and self-doubt - The depression, drinking, and identity crisis after his forced retirement - Moving to Los Angeles, being rejected from his first gym job, and building Box ’N Burn, later named California’s #1 gym - How he turned his fighter’s obsession into one of the biggest boxing fitness brands on YouTube, with millions learning boxing drills, workouts, and techniques in nine different languages - His philosophy of “Do hard things for an easy life”,  and how boxing shaped him as a man, husband, and father Watch more from Tony Jeffries on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TonyJeffries  This conversation touches on depression, mindset, and the mental battles fighters face outside the ring. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to a trusted friend, family member, or professional. If you’re in crisis, please seek local support services in your country. You don’t have to go through it alone. 0:00 - Intro 3:28 - Fear as Fuel 10:20 - Forced Retirement 13:00 - Climbing Out 15:30 - Beverly Hills Rejection 20:30 - Building Box ’N Burn 24:00 - Boxing for Fitness 27:50 - The COVID Pivot 31:15 - Global Reach 35:40 - Obsession & Craft 46:00 - Impact Beyond Numbers 47:50 - What’s Next 51:40 - Advice for Fighters (Plan B) 54:15 - How Boxing Shaped Me 55:30 - Jiu-Jitsu & Family 59:50 - Do Hard Things, Easy Life 1:03:45 - Final Reflections

In the vrss podcast, we dive into the psychology, science, and soul of combat sports. We bring you conversations with people at the top of their fields: from world champions and legends of the game, to the doctors, neuroscientists, psychologists, and coaches pushing performance to new levels. At its heart, vrss means two things: You versus the fight, whatever form that takes. And the verses that get written through it. We’re here to go deeper into those stories. Into the internal fight, the philosophies, the truths. Into what fighting really teaches us. How it rewires the brain, the body, the mind. And what strength really means - on the mats, and far beyond them. Because the outside never tells the whole story. The real strength is from within. Coming, this September.