A new player has entered the MMA landscape, and it has arrived with some big names.
Wednesday, Global Fight League (GFL) announced its official launch will come in the opening weeks of 2025. The GFL concept differs from that of UFC and PFL.
While it has a league format and playoffs, it is also team-based and has a draft. There will be six franchises (names and cities to follow). The draft is scheduled for Jan. 24, with an inaugural event to follow in April.
Who’s fighting?
Co-founder Darren Owen revealed on “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Wednesday that the promotion has over 300 fighters under contract. Not all fighters will be drafted.
Of the 92 fighters posted to the promotion’s official website, 45 of them are former UFC fighters. Names include Tyron Woodley, Anthony Pettis, Benson Henderson, Gegard Mousasi, Wanderlei Silva, Frank Mir, Andrei Arlovski, Kevin Lee, Fabricio Werdum, and Junior Dos Santos among others.
Scroll below to see the released names:
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Marcel Adur
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Amirkhon Alikhuzhaev
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Andrei Arlovski
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Omar Arteaga
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Stuart Austin
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Renan Barao
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Deberson Batista
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Raimundo Batista
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Stephen Beaumont
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Alan Belcher
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Tanner Boser
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Claudeci Brito
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Will Brooks
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Yan Cabral
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Alexsandro Cangaty
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Pedro Carvalho
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Rafael Carvalho
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Alexa Conners
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Kyle Daukaus
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Ayton de Paepe
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Patrizio de Souza
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Robelis Despaigne
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Marcelo Dias
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Miao Ding
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Junior Dos Santos
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Cameron Else
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Tonya Evinger
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Kalindra Faria
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Marciano Ferreira
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Chauncey Foxworth
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Glaico Franca
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Alexander Gustafsson
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Greg Hardy
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Andre Harrison
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Benson Henderson
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Phil Hawes
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Guto Inocente
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Michael Irizarry
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Bubba Jenkins
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Pannie Kianzad
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Ilir Latifi
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Kevin Lee
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William Lima
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Philipe Lins
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Hector Lombard
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Ruan Machado
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John Makdessi
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Lucas Martins
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Aleksandr Maslov
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Jordan Mein
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Dominick Meriweather
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Frank Mir
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Silvania Monteiro
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Marlon Moraes
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Killys Motta
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Gegard Mousasi
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Bi Nguyen
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Abubakar Nurmagomedov
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Ayinda Octave
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Aleksei Oleinik
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Renan Oliveira
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Sidney Outlaw
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Karolina Owczarz
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Oscar Ownsworth
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Denis Palancica
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Rousimar Palharaes
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Lance Palmer
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Chiara Penco
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Markus Perez
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Anthony Pettis
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Jefferson Pontes
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Jimmie Rivera
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Luke Rockhold
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Charles Rosa
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Thiago Santos
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Cleiton Silva
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Wanderlei Silva
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Emiliano Sordi
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Julio Spadaccini
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Andre Soukhamthath
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Roggers Souza
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Gabriel Souza Galindo
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Jeremy Stephens
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Mohamed Tarek Mohey
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Diego Teixeira
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Oli Thompson
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Francisco Trinaldo
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Austin Tweedy
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Feruz Usmonov
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Fabricio Werdum
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Jozef Wittner
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Tyron Woodley
What does GFL provide athletes that other promotions don’t?
According to Owen, GFL offers fighters a 50-50 split in revenue sharing. Additionally, the promotion provides comprehensive support for training and medical bills, retirement benefits, insurance coverage, and more.
Who is behind GFL and where is the money coming from?
Owen is listed as the co-founder and commissioner for GFL and serves essentially as the public face for the promotion. He served as CEO of PFL vs. October 2015 to May 2020 and was the founder and CEO of World Series of Fighting Canada, according to his LinkedIn page.
Also listed on the promotion’s website are Arun Parimi (co-founder and COO), Scott Parker (CMO), and Jeffrey Pollack (senior advisor).
Owen declined to identify the source of the funds behind the operation, but did say it’s a silicon valley investor.
How does the regular season work?
Similarly to PFL, GFL has a point system for regular season fights.
A finish victory notches a fighter’s team four points. A decision win earns three points. A draw earns two points. A decision loss earns one point. If a fighter loses by finish, he or she walks away with zero points.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Global Fight League announces launch, roster includes giant list of former UFC fighters
