The first round of action kicked off at RUF 39 with two Road to ONE contests.

Yimaz Wildman picked up the first victory with a first-round TKO over Corey Mullis, announcing himself to the mixed martial arts world. Rich Hale followed that matchup with another first-round TKO against Eric Lunsford.

The first bouts were proof that RUF Nation was dedicated to finding exciting new heavyweight talent – and that those men were going to leave everything on the mat for the immense opportunity.

RUF 40, Jordan Powell advanced to the quarterfinals with a third-round TKO over Brandon Cash in the first RUF Nation first event with fans back in the building, following restrictions related to COVID-19.

Darion Abbey also booked his place in the next round after scoring a TKO victory against Eduardo Perez in the second frame of their bout. And later in the evening, Mike Quintero put away UFC veteran Cody East with a first-round TKO to make his way into the quarterfinals.

The insane action continued at RUF 42 when unbeaten Waldo Cortes-Acosta picked up the first submission of the tournament against Edison Lopes with a kimura.

And it would not take Cortes-Acosta long to hop back onto the canvas with RUF Nation. The Phoenix native met Jordan Powell in quarterfinal action at RUF 43. The battle marked the first time the judges would be needed in the tournament, and it was Cortes-Acosta that got his arm raised.

Earlier in the night at RUF 43, Cameron Chism-Brungard defeated Ellery Tarazon by first-round knockout to punch his ticket to the next stage.

That action has brought us to RUF 45: Winter Wars, where two more quarterfinal bouts will go down. Cameron Chism-Brungard meets Eduardo Perez, and Michael Quintero takes on Terrance Jean-Jacques, the only man who got a bye in the opening round.

Don't miss the chance to catch this event live. Tickets are still available via the Celebrity Theatre website and box office.

The event will air on pay-per-view, live on December 18, on the RUF Nation website. Access can be purchased on their website.