The ONE Championship VP and 3-Time MMA World Champion will attend the event on Saturday, May 14th
Ringside Unified Fighting (RUF Nation) is preparing to host the biggest MMA event in its 15-year history, and now, one of the biggest names in the sport will appear at the show.
MMA legend Rich Franklin is scheduled to attend RUF 47’s Road To ONE: Heavyweight Tournament Finals at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, May 14th.
That evening, Franklin will crown the Road To ONE: Heavyweight Tournament Champion and award the winner with a six-figure contract to compete in ONE Championship.
“This will be a special moment for ONE as it is our first Road To ONE tournament in the U.S.,” said Franklin, a three-time MMA World Champion and ONE Championship Vice President.
“A 16-man tournament has been a long road for some of the competitors, and I am excited to see what the winner brings to ONE once they are on the global stage.”
Competing in the Road To ONE: Heavyweight Tournament Finals will be Tra’von “Wildman” Butler (4-1) and Terrance “T-Bone” Jean-Jacques (7-3), who have established themselves as two of Arizona’s greatest big men in the sport today.
Whoever emerges victorious will join ONE Championship, an Asia-based organization that recently signed a huge deal with Amazon Prime to broadcast events in the United States and Canada.
Lately, ONE Championship’s heavyweight division has become one of the hottest weight classes in the promotion.
It features the likes of ONE Heavyweight World Champion Arjan “Singh” Bhullar, undefeated interim titleholder Anatoly Malykhin, and 13-time BJJ World Champion Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.
There’s also promising talents like former NCAA All-American wrestler Odie Delaney, Senegalese viral sensation “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane, and South Korean knockout artist “Mighty Warrior” Kang Ji Won.
The Road To ONE: Heavyweight Tournament Champion will have the chance to compete against some of these world-class athletes, and perhaps even on one of the Amazon Prime broadcasts later this year.
“ONE’s heavyweight division is beginning to heat up with the rise of ‘Buchecha,’ Arjan returning, and Anatoly just waiting for his next matchup,” Franklin said.
“The winner will be diving into a shark tank. The contract sounds nice, but the money will be earned in that type of company!”
To watch RUF 47 live at the Celebrity Theatre, purchase a ticket at Etix.com. The show can also be streamed live on pay-per-view at RUFnation.com.
