What drives men to enter a cage where the fights take place with bare fists and completely without rules? This question is posed by the new documentary podcast ‘Undergrunden: The Danish Fight Club’ from Podimo, which gives listeners a rare insight into a hidden community in Denmark.

In abandoned buildings around the country, a group of men gather for brutal confrontations. The centerpiece is a cage where bodies collide in raw fistfights without referees, without safety equipment, and without fixed rules. Here, body and life are at stake in the search for meaning, belonging, and recognition that many participants do not experience elsewhere in society.

Three years of research behind closed doors

Journalists Kristian Toft and Christian Anker have closely followed the environment for three years and gained access to a community that is otherwise completely closed off to the public. They have been present at fights, spoken with both organizers and fighters, and documented how the “underworld” has grown in strength and membership. The result is a podcast series that not only depicts the extreme but also poses the question: Why do some men seek out this community? “The podcast is a window into a group of men who feel excluded from the established society. It is a contribution to help us all understand more about where masculinity and communities related to masculinity stand today,” says journalist Kristian Toft.

More than violence

Although violence is the visible frame, the podcast is about much more. The series sheds light on men who feel marginalized and pushed to the edge of societal norms. Some fight to prove their strength, others to honor family or find an identity they can relate to. The podcast nuances the picture of the environment and opens a debate about masculinity, community, and malaise - topics that are often overlooked in public conversation, where the focus is often more on women's mental challenges. “Our goal is not to shock but to understand. When we get close to the men, we do not see monsters - we see humans searching for meaning, community, and recognition,” says journalist Christian Anker.

With journalistic techniques rarely heard in the podcast medium, the series opens the doors into an environment where you feel the atmospheres, hear the voices, and get close to the people living a very different and boundary-seeking life. 

“Undergrunden: The Danish Fight Club” consists of six episodes and premieres on September 22, 2025 - only on Podimo. The podcast is created with support from Public Service Puljen. Find the podcast here.