Active Club Network (white nationalist combat sports)
Decentralised white-nationalist combat-sports network founded by Robert Rundo (Rise Above Movement). Combines MMA training with explicit white-nationalist ideology. SPLC hate-group designation.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
+1 for SPLC hate-group designation and documented violent incidents.
Profile facts
In context
The Active Club Network traces to Robert Rundo, who formed the street-fighting group Rise Above Movement (RAM) in Southern California in 2017. RAM members travelled to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and to California political rallies, where several were filmed assaulting counter-protesters; some pleaded guilty to federal Anti-Riot Act conspiracy charges and served prison time. A 2019 federal court ruling dismissed related charges against Rundo on First Amendment grounds, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling in 2021, and a new indictment was unsealed in January 2023. Rundo, who had fled the United States, was arrested in Romania in March 2023 and extradited to face the charges in August 2023.
While in Europe, Rundo built the Active Club model, describing his goal as 'White Nationalism 3.0': a decentralised network of local, ostensibly independent combat-sports clubs that combine MMA-style training with white-nationalist ideology and content production, designed to be difficult for researchers and law enforcement to track as a single organisation. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism counted 187 active chapters in 27 countries as of June 2025, a 25 percent increase since late 2023, with roughly half of the new chapters organised as youth-focused offshoots; by 2026 reporting put the total above 200 chapters, with Canada alone hosting more than 30. Chapters have produced documented violence and prosecutions across several countries: three Active Club Estonia members were convicted in 2024 of far-right vigilantism; French chapters were linked to a November 2023 attack on an alternative venue (sentences of 12-24 months) and an April 2024 assault in Macon; four members of a Swedish chapter received sentences of three to three-and-a-half years; and an undercover ITV News investigation filmed London-branch members discussing weapons acquisition and performing Nazi salutes. The UK's former head of counterterrorism policing has described Active Club England as a successor in character to National Action, the neo-Nazi group banned in 2016 after celebrating the murder of MP Jo Cox. Active Club chapters in England recruited new members following the 2024 UK riots that followed the Southport stabbings, and Active Club Telegram channels have circulated guidance on avoiding police detection. The network continues to expand globally around Rundo's founding vision of a leaderless cell structure built on combat-sports recruitment.
Key control doctrines
- White-nationalist ideology with combat-sports training
- Robert Rundo lineage
Recovery resources
- Life After Hate / Exit USA — US-based white-nationalist disengagement organisation; canonical referral for Active Club network and successor recruitment-network exits.
- Free Radicals Project — Christian Picciolini's organisation; substantial Active Club / Rise Above Movement-era disengagement experience.
- Hope Not Hate (UK) — UK anti-extremism organisation; documents Active Club network's European expansion and offers family-support information.
- EXIT-Deutschland — German pioneering far-right exit programme.
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Legal cases & controversies
- DOJ Rundo case
- Multiple chapter SPLC designations
Evidence by BITE axis
- SPLC hate-group designation
- Multiple chapters globally
- Combat-sports training with white-nationalist ideology
- Rundo extradition 2023
- White-nationalist ideology with combat-sports training
- Robert Rundo lineage
- +1 for SPLC hate-group designation and documented violent incidents
Timeline
- 2017Rise Above Movement violence at Charlottesville and California rallies
- 2020+Active Club Network expansion
- 2023Rundo extradited to USA
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- SPLC profiles search ↗
- ProPublica investigations search ↗
- DOJ Rundo case search ↗
- Wikipedia: Active Clubs, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Clubs (accessed 2026-08-31) ↗ Wikipedia
- The Guardian: 'White supremacist Robert Rundo extradited from Romania to US to face charges' (Aug 2, 2023), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/02/robert-rundo-white-supremacist-extradited-romania-charges-los-angeles open ↗
- Just Security: 'Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat' (Sept 1, 2023), https://www.justsecurity.org/87970/amid-robert-rundos-extradition-the-white-supremacist-active-clubs-network-remains-a-threat/ open ↗
- This 'Violence-Ready' Militia Is Hiding in Plain Sight — https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/white-nationalist-active-clubs-1234835015/ open ↗
- Active club' hate groups are growing in the U.S. — and making themselves seen — https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188111769/active-club-hate-groups open ↗
- Hiding in Plain Sight – The Transnational Right-Wing Extremist Active Club Network — https://extremism.gwu.edu/hiding-plain-sight open ↗
- Far-right group using sports to 'build militia', experts warn — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ydnqdq38wo open ↗
- White supremacist Robert Rundo extradited from Romania to US to face charges — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/02/robert-rundo-white-supremacist-extradited-romania-charges-los-angeles open ↗
- Dangerous Organizations and Bad Actors: The Active Club Network — https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/dangerous-organizations-and-bad-actors-active open ↗
- Revealed: neo-Nazi active club counts several of US military as members — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/14/revealed-neo-nazi-active-club-us-military-members open ↗
- Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs Are Fat-Shaming Men Into White Nationalism — https://www.vice.com/en/article/neo-nazi-fight-clubs-robert-rundo-fat-shaming-white-nationalism/ open ↗
- Canadian Police Just Arrested Influential Neo-Nazi 'Dark Foreigner — https://www.vice.com/en/article/dark-foreigner-arrested-canada-terrorism/ open ↗
- Meet the 'Entrepreneur of Hate' Behind the Rise Of Canadian Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs — https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-entrepreneur-of-hate-behind-the-rise-of-canadian-neo-nazi-fight-clubs/ open ↗
- Terrorgram' Charges Show US Has Had Tools to Crack Down on Far-Right Terrorism All Along — https://www.wired.com/story/terrorgram-collective-indictments/ open ↗
- Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs Are Growing Rapidly, New Research Shows — https://www.vice.com/en/article/neo-nazi-active-clubs-rising-globally/ open ↗
- Active Clubs and white supremacy groups targeting young men a 'threat to social cohesion' in Australia — https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-03/active-clubs-white-supremecy-groups-targeting-men/104164174 open ↗
- White nationalist fight clubs pose risk for 'extreme violence,' warns government report — https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/active-clubs-report-public-safety-canada-9.7109011 open ↗
- White supremacist group gathers again in Hamilton, community leaders call on city and police to do something — https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/ns13-gathering-city-hall-9.7103114 open ↗
- Tracking Canada's fascist fight clubs — https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/fascist-fight-club open ↗
- Extrême droite : entre suprémacisme et violence, Active Club France bande les muscles — https://www.liberation.fr/politique/extreme-droite-entre-supremacisme-et-violence-active-club-france-bande-les-muscles-20240330_MSQWXYQ5LBFBXFTKSW24YRQ7GQ/ open ↗
- MMA, totenkopf et militantes sexy… Le violent combo du "fight club" nazi — https://www.liberation.fr/politique/mma-totenkopf-et-militantes-sexy-le-violent-combo-du-fight-club-nazi-20230131_A3T653QAENGGFGH4CXBEITQYOA/ open ↗
- (S+) Freie Sachsen: »Das sächsische Königshaus ist bei der Gestaltung der Zukunft einzubinden« — https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/freie-sachsen-das-saechsische-koenigshaus-ist-bei-der-gestaltung-der-zukunft-einzubinden-a-a62f69fa-11a5-4aa3-a814-8ef36ea51c0b open ↗
- Aktivklubbarna växer sig starkare: 'En miljö som föder våld — https://www.dn.se/sverige/aktivklubbarna-vaxer-sig-starkare-en-miljo-som-foder-vald/ open ↗
- A White Supremacist Youth Group Helped Orchestrate the Belfast Riots — https://www.wired.com/story/a-white-supremacist-youth-group-helped-orchestrate-the-belfast-riots/ open ↗
- Members of neo-Nazi 'active clubs' join combat events at secretive Virginia compound — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/07/neo-nazi-virginia-combat-event open ↗
- Wie in Kampfsportgruppen rechte Ideologien verbreitet werden. — https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/active-clubs-wie-in-kampfsportgruppen-rechte-ideologien-verbreitet-werden-a-357c63fc-830e-468a-aeba-a4c9b2bb6f5f open ↗
- Active Clubs and Transnational Far-Right Extremism in 2024 and Beyond. — https://extremism.gwu.edu/active-clubs-and-transnational-far-right-extremism-2024-and-beyond open ↗
- Rechte Kampfsportclubs: Jung, sportlich, gewaltbereit. — https://taz.de/Rechte-Kampfsportclubs/!6019902/ open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-08-31Body expanded from stub (thin-content programme)
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: investigative journalism. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Key terms in this profile
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
- Start herePick the reading path that matches your situation.
- PatternsDocumented control patterns with linked profiles.
- Online groupsPolitical and ideological coercion often operates via online communities.
- FamiliesHow families and close friends can engage with high-control members.
- RecoveryIf you have left or are preparing to leave.
You may also want to explore
Frequently asked questions
Q.Is Active Club Network a cult?
CLCI Hub deliberately avoids the binary label "cult." Instead it places groups on a transparent 0–40 spectrum of documented control using Steven Hassan's BITE model (Behaviour, Information, Thought, Emotional). Active Club Network scores 24 out of 40 — "High Control", at medium confidence. The score describes documented control patterns, not a judgement of members' sincerity or beliefs; many members do not personally experience the patterns listed.
Q.What is Active Club Network's CLCI score?
Active Club Network scores 24 out of 40 on the Cult-Like Control Index, which falls in the "High" band. That total is the sum of four BITE axes — Behaviour 5, Information 6, Thought 7, Emotional 5 — plus a signed modifier of +1 for aggravating or mitigating factors.
Q.Why does Active Club Network score 24 on the CLCI?
The score reflects publicly documented patterns including: SPLC hate-group designation; Multiple chapters globally; Combat-sports training with white-nationalist ideology; Rundo extradition 2023. These map onto the BITE axes of behaviour, information, thought, and emotional control, and a signed modifier of +1 is applied for factors such as financial demands, leadership accountability, and exit costs. Every claim is backed by the citations in the Sources section on this page.
Q.How reliable is the Active Club Network rating?
This profile is rated Medium confidence. Medium confidence means the score rests on reputable journalism plus consistent ex-member testimony. CLCI scores are not fixed — they are revised whenever new public evidence appears, and groups that reform can score lower over time.
Q.Where can I get help regarding Active Club Network?
If you or someone you care about is affected by Active Club Network, start with the Recovery resources listed on this page. General cult-aware support is available from the International Cultic Studies Association (icsahome.com) and the Freedom of Mind Resource Center (freedomofmind.com). CLCI Hub is an educational resource, not a crisis service — if anyone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services.
Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.