Tongan/NZ basketball star & Oklahoma City Thunder centre Steven Adams chats with Ariel Helwani the night before UFC Fight Night in Auckland, New Zealand, and discusses his favorite UFC fighters.  

He shares the family connection with UFC Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, Mark Hunt putting NZ on the map, the rise of MMA fighting in NZ and how great it is to see NZ hosting UFC fight nights.

Check out the time Izzy & Dan Hooker pulled up to Stevens charity event.  

ps Fun fact - Steven Adams sister Gabriella who went to school with Izzy is married to Toa Samoa & Huddersfield Giants Prop James Gavet.

Meet the Fijian teen chasing his rugby sevens dreams in New Zealand

"I was 10 when I came from Fiji to New Zealand. I didn't know how to speak English properly" - Jona Mataiciwa

Red Bull’s new mini-series ‘On The Rise’, profiles three of the six MVPs from the 2019 Red Bull Ignite7 tournament, all of whom earnt themselves a trial spot for the national rugby sevens development squads.

First up is proud Fijian Jona Mataiciwa who is based in Whanganui.  Red Bull talks with them about the sacrifices they have had to make to support their children’s dreams of becoming international rugby sevens representatives and other challenges along the way, including migrating from the Pacific Islands with young children.

Jona began playing competitive rugby soon after his family's move from Fiji, aged only 10.  Last year he helped lead his St. Kenitgren's team to the 1A final last year, with the side narrowly missing out against Hastings Boys High in the nationals.…more

By Dahlia Malaeulu

As an important part of everyday life, social development and conversational routine, we have all been raised to greet others. On the surface, greetings are ice breakers, mini introductions and conversation starters that usually sets the tone for the dialogue that follows.

Greetings also have another important layer of meaning.

When we greet each other, we in fact acknowledge and welcome another person’s presence. Our Polynesian greetings carry this same deeper meaning in a very holistic way - where we not only acknowledge others’ existence, their being and spirit, but also openly share parts of ourselves and who we are.

For instance, former governor of American Samoa, the Honourable Togiola Tulafono, explained that Tālofa is short for, 'Si o ta alofa atu,' which means, 'I am happy and delighted to give you my love’.

‘Alofa’ or love is at the core of ‘Tālofa’, which is also the official greeting and welcome of Tuvalu and can be found in the Tokelauan greeting of ‘Talofa ni’ as well as ‘Aloha’ in Hawaii.…more

It's fight week here in Auckland, New Zealand with the main event fighter, Dan Hooker and his teammates Brad Riddell and Kai Kara-France.

The fighters go through a traditional Maori welcoming, finishing up training at City Kickboxing and getting their Reebok fight gear.

Tyson is flying solo with Tai Tuivasa away but Mate Ma'a Tonga & Cronulla Sharks star Andrew Fifita comes through to have a chat.

They talk injury, rehab, NRL pre-season, visiting Tonga & meeting the King after beating Australia in the test last year and Andrew sheds some light on the drama with the MMT board last year.

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The boys also sat down with fight legend Mark Hunt and UFC BMF Jorge Masvidal - check out their chat below.

By Dahlia Malaeulu 

This article was originally published in E-Tangata and is republished on Coconet with permission

Dahlia Malaeulu is a Wellington mother and teacher, and the author of Mila’s My Gagana Series, a set of Sāmoan language books for children.

These days, she’s also a proud New Zealand-born Sāmoan, but it wasn’t always so. Despite growing up in a household with Sāmoan-speaking parents who’d been born and bred in Sāmoa, she has spent much of her life struggling with her identity and trying to figure out what being Sāmoan really means.

Here she writes about the long, hard road to becoming Sāmoan.

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‘What’s your iwi?’

My first encounter with my cultural identity was around 30 years ago at primary school in Wainuiomata, Wellington. During a lesson about where we came from, one of my teachers asked me: “What’s your iwi?”

I remember going home and asking my mum. She gave me a shocked look, and giggled. Then she told me that I had no iwi and that it was “only for Maoris”.

I retreated to my bedroom, stumped.…more

TALIA'ULI LATUKEFU 

Actor 

Tongan 

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My name is Talia’uli Latukefu but most people know me as Uli. I’m Tongan, born and raised in Australia and I’m an actor. 

What were the pathways that led you to pursue acting? 

When I was about 21, I met a couple from church who were running a creative arts program for at risk youth in Brisbane, Australia. Id recently moved there from Sydney where I grew up. They were really inspiring. A small group of us devised a musical together with a local playwright. It was called Paradise - The Musical, mostly young Pacific Island cast and original music. It was a lot of fun. A few years later the director emailed me about an audition for a play. I auditioned and got the role, that role lead to another audition and a small tour.…more

Flava's launched a new evening show with a podcast hosted by Dan Mcleod, Eti Naseri and Shoko Kurata - the trio of homies talk all things Hip Hop n RnB, things that affect NZ and Australia while cracking jokes at each other while they do it.

You can check out more of their interviews on their Youtube Channel here with guests like UFC Middleweight Champ Israel Adesanya, the godfather of NZ Hip Hop - Brotha D and more. 

Fresh off smashing the One Love Festival stages on both sides of the Tasman the boys from Nesian Mystik drop in for this weeks #KultureChat.   and cover off the journey from their start to what they're all up to today.