Combat sports clubs have been used to promote recruitment of white nationalist hatred groups, according to a report released by the legal advocacy group Southern Poverty Law Center.

The report tracks the efforts of the Patriot Front, one of the most obvious groups in the white nationalist movement, formed in 2017 after a deadly “Unity Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, with their focus on recruiting new members through active clubs.

These clubs are smaller, looser networks of white supremacist groups, with members training in mixed martial arts. Through sports, they are associated with white nationalist ideology, SPLC said. The club also maintains a strong online presence to encourage young people to become radical. The report said the Patriot Front is using these groups to expand coverage while keeping a low profile to evade researchers and law enforcement.

"It's a way to hide the Patriot Front movement," said Jeff Tischauser, a researcher at the nonprofit legal advocacy group, the author of the SPLC report.

Patriot Front and other white nationalist groups are promoting the expansion of extremist groups in the United States and have at least twelve clubs nationwide. The SPLC said the hate group has increased by 14% since 2023, and the group said it has tracked 1,430 hate and anti-government groups across the country.

According to Counter Extremism Project, active clubs have been around since 2023 in states including Arizona, Ohio, Kansas, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Florida. White nationalists use active club recruitment, SPLC said. Experts say the groups host training courses, create promotional videos and participate in demonstrations and lightning convenings. Experts say they promote a male-first ideology, share selfies of exercise, and encourage each other's bodies to peak in preparation for parades or possible future conflicts.

According to the Anti-Defamation League. In 2021, Rundo began hosting a podcast called "Active Club Podcast", where he and his co-hosts encourage listeners to build their own clubs. He put the so-called "White Nallantism 3.0" Hallke (White Nallantism 3.0) - a more local, decentralized approach to the White Nationalist movement.

Ronto was arrested in Romania in 2023 after the United States demanded extradition for federal riot charges. He was sentenced to two years in prison and effectively sentenced to a regular sentence and was released in December 2024.

Jon Lewis, a researcher at the George Washington University Extremism Program, said the shift to "White Nationalism 3.0" is similar to the concept of leading-edge resistance for the entire right-most ecosystem.

“I think many of these groups really do function more like brands,” he said.

Audio messages obtained by SPLC and leaked internal memos confirm the direct affiliation between Patriot Front and certain active clubs. The founder of the Texas Active Club has been blamed for recruiting "non-European" members.

“Is our organization something you are totally committed to, or are you going to be an active club guy doing your own thing?” asked the Patriot Front member, according to the SPLC report.

The new recruitment approach coincides with Patriot Front’s faltering brand after years of controversy, SPLC said. In January, the Patriot Front was ordered to pay $2.7 million in compensation to a black musician, whose team attacked a black musician during a 2022 parade in Boston. In February, in February, a settlement was reached between Patriot Front and two North Dakota nonprofits over the group's involvement in the owners of immigration businesses.

The Patriot Front is also facing scrutiny in the right-wing movement. "In some parts of this larger right, the Patriot Front is known as federal agents," Tishaser said. "So, to avoid such allegations, they use active clubs and start trying to develop people from there as membership of the Patriots."

Conspiracy theories even gain enough traction on social media to reach Elon Musk. Last year, he posted on X: "It seems strange. Why didn't the mask be removed after being arrested?" In response to the detention of Captain Patriots' position, X user referred to X as "Fed Front."

The FBI's special work has gone beyond the Patriot Front for conspiracy raised by right-wing activists. Washington Post poll in Maryland found that one in four Americans believe the FBI incited January 6, 2021attack the U.S. Capitol.

CBS News contacted Thomas Rosseau, founder of the FBI and Patriot Front via email.

Lewis said the mainstream of conspiracy theories and hate beliefs that were once limited to the neo-Nazi Forum was considered marginal.

"Today, you have the wealthiest people in the world, and the congressman tweeted on Twitter as if it was like the real thing that was happening," Lewis said. "It just expanded the discontented young, mostly white people who were looking for people to blame, what to blame."

As these clubs were partially dispersed and there were no affiliated entities, the Patriot Front faced challenges in recruitment.

"They want their projections to be much bigger and much more serious than they actually are," Lewis said.