Global Fight League
| 200px | |
| Sport | Mixed martial arts |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | WFL Properties, LLC[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Founder | |
| Official website | mmagfl |
The Global Fight League (GFL), originally announced as the World Fight League (WFL),[4][5] is an upcoming American mixed martial arts (MMA) league scheduled to launch in April 2025.[6] Founded by Darren Owen and Arun Parimi, the league will hold its inaugural draft on January 24, 2025, where fighters will be allocated to city-based teams.[7][8] GFL’s fighter-centric business model is expected to include health and injury insurance, a structured retirement fund, and a 50% event-specific revenue share with the fighters.[9]
History
The Global Fight League (GFL), originally announced as the World Fight League (WFL), is scheduled to launch in April 2025. GFL was founded by Darren Owen, who will serve as the league's acting commissioner, and Arun Parimi, who will serve as the league's chief operating officer, with the backing of Scott Parker, who will serve as the chief marketing officer, and Jeffrey Pollack, who will be the GFL's senior advisor.
The GFL will put on fights across ten weight-divisions, which will differ from MMA's traditional weight classes: women's strawweight (120 lbs), women's flyweight (130 lbs), women's bantamweight (140 lbs), men's bantamweight (145 lbs), featherweight (155 lbs), lightweight (165 lbs), welterweight (180 lbs), middleweight (200 lbs), light heavyweight (225 lbs), and heavyweight (265 lbs).[10] GFL is expected to carry a 300-fighter roster where 120 athletes will get assigned to six teams, composed of 20 fighters with two representatives each across the 10 weight classes.[10] A scoring system is set for GFL's bouts where fighters will earn four points for a finish, three for a decision win, two for a draw, one for a decision loss and zero for a defeat via finish. The points will contribute to each team's total score.[9]
On December 11, 2024, it was announced that GFL had signed Tyron Woodley, Fabrício Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Junior dos Santos, Luke Rockhold, Frank Mir, Andrei Arlovski, Renan Barão, and Benson Henderson, all former Ultimate Fighting Championship title holders. Other GFL signees Marlon Moraes, Wanderlei Silva, Gegard Mousasi, Rafael Carvalho, Lance Palmer, and Will Brooks were champions in other major organizations such as the Pride Fighting Championships, Bellator MMA, and the World Series of Fighting.[11]
Teams and fighters
The draft will be streamed live on January 24, 2025, and it will take place in Phoenix, Arizona. Six teams will take part in GFL's inaugural season, and the teams consist of as follows:
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISO |  |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
| City | Miami | São Paulo | London | New York City | Dubai | Los Angeles |
| Manager | Thiago Alves | Lyoto Machida | Luke Barnatt | TBD | Cain Velasquez | Wanderlei Silva |
| Head Coach | Conan Silveira | André Pederneiras | Carl Prince | Ray Longo | Javier Mendez | Rafael Cordeiro |
| Fighters | ||||||
| Ref. | [12] | [12] | [12] | [12] | [12] | [12] |
See also
References
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