In this episode of The Heart of the Bad Wolf, Nicholas James Muscarella sits down with world-renowned striking coach Jason Strout for a raw, honest conversation about fighting, burnout, addiction, fatherhood, and the emotional weight of coaching at the highest level.

Jason opens up about growing up in the Midwest with an alcoholic father, finding himself in hardcore music culture, and how fighting became both an outlet and an identity. He shares why he never drank, how gym life saved him at the right moment, and how stepping into combat sports changes you permanently.

The conversation goes deeper into the realities most fans never see:

• Stopping fights to protect his own fighters • The emotional crash after fight night • The guilt of convincing a fighter to take a payday that ended in a knockout • Burn ...