‘Someone will die’ – Insane combat sports league launched by UFC heavyweight slammed after stomach-churning footage goes viral

Combat sports fans have been left feeling uneasy after watching the Run Nation Championship (RNC).

Co-founded by UFC heavyweight Tai Tuivasa, RNC is the latest organisation from New Zealand and Australia to transform the ‘run it straight’ game into a competitive promotion.

The Run Nation Championship

The Run Nation Championship

The controversial sport sees men across various weight classes run full pelt at each other with the sole aim of scoring a big hit knockdown.

Run it Straight Official and RUNIT Championship League are other promotions in the region with a similar format.

RUNIT adopts a two-round runner vs defender system (three for championship bouts), with two collisions per round.

The promotion states in its official rules that both athletes must stick to a straight line until the point of contact, tackle below the shoulders and enter contact with ball in hand if running.

There is a 30-second recovery period allowed between collisions and sudden death is used to decide a draw on judges’ scorecards.

Despite the sport being heavily criticised after a teenager died from head injuries suffered playing a non-competitive game with friends in New Zealand, the hard-hitting leagues seem to be ever-evolving.

Around 5,000 people packed into Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion to watch RNC’s latest event and footage from the show has caused quite the stir.

UFC stars react to Tai Tuivasa’s Run Nation Championship

One video shared by Tuivasa, who made an unsuccessful return to fighting at UFC 325 earlier this month, shows one man being knocked out cold after an attempted run.

Medics rushed to the aid of both men in an unsettling ‘post-run’ scene that has now gotten the entire combat world talking.

Current UFC heavyweight title challenger Ciryl Gane dropped a shocked face emoji under the post shared by Tuivasa.

Others mocked the ‘dumb’ and ‘unhealthy’ sport, comparing it to Dana White‘s Power Slap league.

Responding to a longer video of the same event shared on social media, former UFC fighter Ben Askren wrote: “I mean holy s*** this is dumb. We are literally getting dumber as a civilisation.”

UFC featherweight Arnold Allen said: “F***inggggg helllllll leave it outttt.”

One fan added: “How long until we start just killing each other as a sport.”

A second simply put: “$200 for CTE.”

Another wrote: “Someone will die doing this in the next five years.”

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While a fourth said: “Why in the hell do we need this sport? Are people so addicted to entertainment they need new hits for new kicks? Dopamine overload.”

Millions of people have now watched the shocking footage on social media, so promoters may not entirely look at the reaction in a negative way.

However, medical professionals have warned about the dangers of traumatic brain injury that the sport could lead to if it continues.

Run Nation CEO Tremaine Fernandez told ABC Australia that his promotion has introduced rules to prevent head-on collisions.

“We’ve manufactured side-on contact, many markers and rules on the field and rules of engagement, and then on top of that, the player vetting process has just been enormous,” he said.

Fernandez added that front-on contact was ‘a bit ugly’ to deal with when developing earlier versions of the league.