“Athlete safety is a real priority” - Rich Franklin believes Global Martial Arts Rule Set may be approved in more US states

ONE Vice President Rich Franklin is confident that athletic committees in the US will approve the Global Martial Arts Rule Set used in ONE with no issues.

ONE Championship is one of the leading martial arts organizations in the world to initiate nuanced safety protocols that protect athletes’ well-being before they step inside the ring.

Speaking with Brendan Schaub, host of Food Truck Diaries, Franklin elaborated on the types of safety protocols in place, which have had a positive impact on athletes' performances and the organization as a whole:

“There are other things that are part of the Global Rule Set because like, we have athlete safety is a real priority for us. For example, our organization requires athletes to conduct fight week CT scans. You’re gonna do your CT during your medical protocol, like what you did when you were fighting. You do all that during the medical protocols that we have for you that are four, five weeks outside of the fight. But come fight week when you do show up, we stick you back in the hospital to make sure that you didn’t get any damage during training.”

With athlete safety as a major priority, Rich Franklin hopes that more US states like Colorado can adopt ONE Championship’s manner of working without strain.

He concluded by saying:

“Protocols like that and the hydration, and the conversations I’ve had with the athletic commission here in the US, there’s no issue when you’re going above and beyond their standards for approval. When a state wants to approve you, they’ll say, ‘Oh, here’s our minimum standards of approval.’ Well, we’re gonna do our weight and hydration through a third party anyway, we’re gonna do the CTs which is technically third party because it’s a hospital. So any protocols that we want to do above and beyond their minimum standard, they’re cool with.”

Catch the full episode below:

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Rich Franklin explains the hydration and weight protocols in place at ONE Championship

For American fans who don’t yet know how the hydration and weight protocols work under ONE, Rich Franklin gave a detailed explanation of how that works.

Weight cutting is prevalent in major martial arts organizations across the US. What sets ONE apart from the rest is that they don’t allow their athletes to cut weight.

In fact, fighters compete within their natural weight class in order to prevent them from dehydrating themselves before fight night, which reduces the risk of collapse or other risky situations.

Rich Franklin explained to Sherdog MMA how both the hydration and weigh-in protocols are done in ONE:

“When you arrive two days before the event, we will test your urine for hydration to make sure you’re fully hydrated. You have to make hydration then you have to step on a scale and you have to make weight. You have to do both of those things simultaneously. You do that two days before the event, you’re good to go.”

Franklin added that the process is done once again the day before the event, and if the fighter passes both test days, they’re ready to compete.

Catch the interview below: