Righteous Rick a Smashing Success

Righteous Rick a Smashing Success on Donofrio MMA Card

Fans come out to cheer or jeer instant legend making debut.  The legend of "Righteous Rick" continues, and there may be no stopping this locomotive now.

"Righteous" Rick Bastuba, who attained local notoriety in the Detroit area after subduing an unruly fan with a sleeper hold at a Lions game in September, at which point the fan's pants inadvertently fell down, made his mixed martial arts debut on November 14 and scored a majority decision win over Jeff Emery before a healthy crowd of enthusiastic MMA fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills in a show promoted by Donofrio Entertainment.

In the bout, the Righteous One, who weighed in at 231 pounds, started slowly, and gathered momentum as the fight progressed, using an arsenal that was developed and refined in a rather short period of time and standing up to the heavy blows thrown by Emery.

In the end, whether fans loved him or hated him, it was a good time. Righteous Rick had achieved quite a bit of attention after his Ford Field altercation, with a photo of him and the embarrassed fan, known infamously as the "Bare-Assed Man," circulating on popular internet sites such as "Deadspin" and drawing a considerable amount of interest from WRIF's "Drew & Mike" show, which made him something of a cause celebre.

Promoter Joseph Donofrio made contact with Bastuba, who as it turned out had a martial arts and kick boxing background, and arrangements were made to put him on the November 14 Palace show, which subsequently carried the RIGHTEOUS RUMBLE moniker. As a man who brought about controversy, Bastuba had both fans and critics in the audience, though reviews of his performance, not to mention the excitement he brought to the Palace fight night, were overwhelmingly positive.

"This is what it's all about, bringing a lot of excitement to the Palace, and getting these fans to come out and root hard," said Donofrio, who is the busiest promoter in the state of Michigan and one of the most active MMA promoters in the country. "I can't wait to see what happens next, and neither can our customers."

Ah yes, what happens next. Bastuba, a 39-year-old resident of Grand Blanc who played football at Clarkston High School, is far from a one-fight wonder. He's going to get some rest, get back to the gym, and engage in some "heavy training," as he puts it. Perhaps he'll be back next time as a pro; the go-ahead for professional mixed martial arts shows in Michigan has been given, with the first card to be set for January 30 at the Palace.

All told, there were twelve bouts put together by matchmaker Anne Morrell on the November 14 RIGHTEOUS RUMBLE show, four of which went to decisions. In one of them, Kelly Warren of Lapeer, MI won the verdict over Randa Markos to win an Impact Fight League women's title. It was truly an international bout, as Markos hails from Windsor, Ontario.

For more information on the January pro show, as well as past amateur bouts and the Impact Fight League championships, keep in touch with the Donofrio Entertainment website, at www.donofriomma.com and follow Donofrio MMA on Twitter, at https://twitter.com/donofriomma