RNC04 Postponed: A Shift in Combat Sports Regulation
The promoters call it “the essence of the activity” – the collision itself.
That collision is now on hold.
Runit Combat’s latest showpiece, RNC04, has been postponed after the NSW Supreme Court stepped in, forcing the controversial combat sport to pause and reset under a new regulatory framework.
RNC bows to court, promises return
In a statement, RNC confirmed the event would not go ahead as planned, saying it accepted the court’s ruling.
“RNC will now operate as a regulated sport in NSW under the authority. We are working with them to bring RNC into that framework properly,” the statement read, signalling a significant shift for a sport defined by its raw, unfiltered violence.
The promotion moved quickly to reassure fans and fighters.
“RNC04 will be rescheduled for later in 2026 at Royal Randwick Racecourse. Same venue. Same card. Same event.
“Your ticket carries over automatically. If you cannot attend the new date, refund instructions are going to every ticket holder by email today.
“To our athletes, coaches and teams. You gave everything to get here. None of it is lost. This is a delay, not a defeat.”
For a sport officially described as one where the primary aim is “to strike, kick, hit, grapple with, throw or punch one or more other combatants”, the wording felt almost defiant. The show, they insist, will go on – just not yet.
Stars lined up, doubts piling up
Former rugby league enforcers Dylan Napa and Sam Kasiano were among those slated to appear on the RNC04 card, a sign of how the promotion has tapped into the NRL’s reservoir of heavy hitters to build its brand.
Not everyone from that world wants their name attached to it.
Earlier this year, ex-NRL front-rower Josh Aloiai walked away after working as a coach with RNC competitors. What he saw in the corner changed his mind.
In a video posted to social media, Aloiai said: “After coaching at RNC last night, that’s not something I could ever be involved in again.
“As a coach, man, I could not do that again, feels like you’re just preparing dudes to go and get their heads knocked off and get brain bleeds and tap them on the back and squirt water in their face.”
That clip cut through. It stripped away the marketing gloss and went straight to the heart of the unease around the sport: how much damage is too much, even in a business built on hurt?
RNC figure Fernandez later told the Herald that Aloiai was entitled to his opinion and stressed the company respects any athlete’s decision about whether to be involved in any sport. The line was calm, corporate, measured – a contrast to the visceral discomfort Aloiai described.
A sport under the microscope
The scrutiny is not new. RNC sits in a combat landscape already rattled by tragedy.
Vulangi Olosoni, who won the Runit Championship League final – a rival competition to RNC – in June 2025, previously apologised for his role in encouraging young people to enter the sport after the death of New Zealand teenager Ryan Satterthwaite.
That apology still hangs over the scene. It serves as a stark reminder that behind the hype reels and walkouts, there are real consequences, especially when teenagers and impressionable fans start to see extreme violence as a pathway.
Now RNC finds itself at a crossroads: forced into regulation, promising the “same card, same event”, yet operating in a climate where former players are publicly recoiling and past champions are expressing regret.
The collisions will return to Royal Randwick. The question is how many are still willing to stand behind the ropes when they do.
