ASHLAND – After spending time as both a fighter and a fan, Matt Trukovich has a different approach to being a fight promoter than some others in his business.
“I fought first. I was a fighter and then a fan and then a promoter. So I try to take care of those things. Fighters and the fans and then promotion comes secondary,” Trukovich said.
That attitude is part of what has made Revelation Fight Organization one of the premier mixed martial arts promotions in Ohio. RFO will present its latest fight card, Big Guns 25, at Fairhaven Hall Saturday night.
RFO born from Wreckroom
Trukovich, an Ashland native was never really interested in sports in high school. It was only after high school when his brother got involved in Toughman contests that the first seeds of his MMA future were planted.
“He talked me into joining one of those (Toughman contests) and I kind of fell in love with it,” Trukovich said.
At the time, mixed martial arts was rising in popularity which spurred Trukovich to try his hand in that arena. He hooked up with two former Ashland University wrestlers in 2004 to open Wreckroom Athletics, a gym that specializes in training MMA fighters. The gym has since been transplanted to Mansfield.
“We had enough fighters that we thought we could start our own promotion so we started RFO in 2006,” Trukovich said.
Eventually, the gym and promotion split into separate businesses with Black River grad Mitch Whitesel running the Wreckroom and Trukovich taking on the promotion side of things. When he started the promotion business, Trukovich was driven to make sure RFO stood out from other fight promoters.
“Being a fight promoter you get a bad name. People assume you’re like Don King or a used car salesman type guy. The ‘Revelation’ came from trying to keep the integrity in the sport. Let’s have a revelation of it doesn’t have to go down the road that boxing went down,” Trukovich said.
RFO has been promoting four or five events each year in Mansfield, Tallmadge and Cleveland, but due to changing career demands, Trukovich said they will be scaling back to two or three events next year.
Big Guns 25
Fifteen bouts line the Big Guns 25 card, including the promotion’s first title fight. The main event features Mansfield native Cody Stevens taking on Jordan Griffin for the RFO 145-pound title.
“Combat sports have come a long way since Toughman competitions. Toughman was basically just guys off the street would sign up and go in and box each other. What mixed martial arts has become is a high level. These guys put in 10 weeks in training camp,” Trukovich said.
Two of the fighters on the card, Stevens and John Gunther, are training in Cleveland at Strong Style gym alongside UFC champion Stipe Miocic and are on the verge of moving on to bigger venues.
“They’re training along high-level guys and they’re knocking on the door to the next level,” Trukovich said.
Other RFO fighters have made that jump in the past. Cody Garbrandt, current UFC bantamweight champion, fought in RFO events before going professional in 2012.
“That’s really our goal is to get these guys to the next level,” Trukovich said.
The Big Guns 25 card includes:
- Cody Stevens vs. Jordan Griffin
- John Gunther vs. Nick Browne
- Jeffrey Pelton vs. Nick Baker
- Cameron McIntosh vs. Edwin Taylor
- Justin Patterson vs. Chris Fattig
- Max Meese vs. Anthony Kirksey
- Quentin Shumard vs. Dalton Rosta
- Brandon Birr vs. Luke Chokan
- Brad Osborne vs. Joshua Barbee
- Trent Frontz vs. Brandon Slade
- Kayla Marie vs. Meghan Williams
- Tyree Johnson vs. Mike Seibert
- Jerry Thomas vs. Charles Hummel
- Andrew Lowery vs. Brandon Liggett
- Roy Nichols vs. Brody Williams
General admission tickets are $30 for Big Guns 25. Doors open at 6 p.m. at Fairhaven Hall on the Richland County Fairgrounds and fights start at 7 p.m.
