Legend from Drew & Mike’s WRIF show suits up for combat

Donofrio Entertainment has become known as an organization that brings the people what they want.

And what do they want? They want more MMA championship fights….and Righteous Rick!

Promoter Joseph Donofrio is eternally grateful for all the support the fans of Detroit and the state of Michigan have shown for his mixed martial arts extravaganzas, and on November 14, right before Thanksgiving, he shows his thanks once again.

That’s the date of the RIGHTEOUS RUMBLE at the Palace of Auburn Hills, which will be highlighted by two more fights that will determine titles in the thriving Impact Fight League, as well as the appearance of the man who has been taking the Detroit area by storm on WRIF’s “Drew & Mike” show.

“Righteous Rick” Bastuba, a family man and businessman out of Clarkston, MI, was minding his own business with a group of friends at the September 27 game between the Lions and Washington Redskins at Ford Field when one of the fans – not part of his group – started to grab his friend’s wife. Rick asked him to stop, but when the man refused, the Righteous One took matters into his own hands. “I wasn’t going to let that guy do something like that to my friend’s wife,” he said. “What kind of a guy do you think I am?” He quickly subdued the unruly fan with a picture-perfect sleeper hold and secured him against a row of seats, at which time the man’s pants inadvertently came off. Someone with a cell phone took a picture and submitted it to the popular internet site “Deadspin.”.

Shortly thereafter, Drew and Mike from WRIF picked up on the photo, brought Righteous Rick onto their show, and the legend was born, and Righteous Rick and Joseph Donofrio found each other.

Righteous Rick’s scheduled fight on the November 14 show is not a flight of fancy. This is a gentleman who has had training in wrestling and the martial arts, once studying under former world kick-boxing champion Kerry Roop, and although it has been a while since he has been in competition, Bastuba, who owns and operates an auction house in suburban Detroit, insists it won’t take much to get the juices flowing. He has already commenced training with experts in boxing and MMA at his disposal, and he’ll be ready for anyone who gets into the cage with him.

“Bring ‘em on,” he says.

Thus far, the “Bare-Assed Man” he turned back, who was immediately taken away by Ford Field security that day, has not been heard from, although friends of his have fired salvos on the Drew & Mike Show.

In terms of the rest of the card, fans will be looking at a slate of fifteen outstanding fights, put together by Anne Morrell, quickly becoming a force among MMA matchmakers, and of course, there will be two Impact Fight League title fights, with the contestants getting to the Palace through an elimination process that has taken place with satellite fights throughout the state of Michigan. In a neat twist, one of those fights will be for a men’s title and the other for a women’s title!

We will also be taping footage of our reality show that airs on Comcast. Want to be on television? Come on out!

Tickets for the November 14 RIGHTEOUS RUMBLE at the Palace are priced at $35 for VIP seats, $25 for reserved and $15 for general admission, and are available right NOW – just go to any TicketMaster outlet, including the Palace Box Office, or take a trip online to www.palacenet.com. VIP tables are also available, and the all-inclusive package that accompanies them is absolutely breath-taking. Call 248-770-6000 for information on that.