Kalindra Faria – Syndication Server

Global Fight League announces launch, roster includes giant list of former UFC fighters

GFL has arrived – and it’s bringing fairly massive names from UFC yesteryears with it.

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:

[autotag]Marcel Adur[/autotag]
[autotag]Amirkhon Alikhuzhaev[/autotag]
[autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag]
[autotag]Omar Arteaga[/autotag]
[autotag]Stuart Austin[/autotag]
[autotag]Renan Barao[/autotag]
[autotag]Deberson Batista[/autotag]
[autotag]Raimundo Batista[/autotag]
[autotag]Stephen Beaumont[/autotag]
[autotag]Alan Belcher[/autotag]
[autotag]Tanner Boser[/autotag]
[autotag]Claudeci Brito[/autotag]
[autotag]Will Brooks[/autotag]
[autotag]Yan Cabral[/autotag]
[autotag]Alexsandro Cangaty[/autotag]
[autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag]
[autotag]Rafael Carvalho[/autotag]
[autotag]Alexa Conners[/autotag]
[autotag]Kyle Daukaus[/autotag]
[autotag]Ayton de Paepe[/autotag]
[autotag]Patrizio de Souza[/autotag]
[autotag]Robelis Despaigne[/autotag]
[autotag]Marcelo Dias[/autotag]
[autotag]Miao Ding[/autotag]
[autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag]
[autotag]Cameron Else[/autotag]
[autotag]Tonya Evinger[/autotag]
[autotag]Kalindra Faria[/autotag]
[autotag]Marciano Ferreira[/autotag]
[autotag]Chauncey Foxworth[/autotag]
[autotag]Glaico Franca[/autotag]
[autotag]Alexander Gustafsson[/autotag]
[autotag]Greg Hardy[/autotag]
[autotag]Andre Harrison[/autotag]
[autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag]
[autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag]
[autotag]Guto Inocente[/autotag]
[autotag]Michael Irizarry[/autotag]
[autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag]
[autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]
[autotag]Ilir Latifi[/autotag]
[autotag]Kevin Lee[/autotag]
[autotag]William Lima[/autotag]
[autotag]Philipe Lins[/autotag]
[autotag]Hector Lombard[/autotag]
[autotag]Ruan Machado[/autotag]
[autotag]John Makdessi[/autotag]
[autotag]Lucas Martins[/autotag]
[autotag]Aleksandr Maslov[/autotag]
[autotag]Jordan Mein[/autotag]
[autotag]Dominick Meriweather[/autotag]
[autotag]Frank Mir[/autotag]
[autotag]Silvania Monteiro[/autotag]
[autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag]
[autotag]Killys Motta[/autotag]
[autotag]Gegard Mousasi[/autotag]
[autotag]Bi Nguyen[/autotag]
[autotag]Abubakar Nurmagomedov[/autotag]
[autotag]Ayinda Octave[/autotag]
[autotag]Aleksei Oleinik[/autotag]
[autotag]Renan Oliveira[/autotag]
[autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag]
[autotag]Karolina Owczarz[/autotag]
[autotag]Oscar Ownsworth[/autotag]
[autotag]Denis Palancica[/autotag]
[autotag]Rousimar Palharaes[/autotag]
[autotag]Lance Palmer[/autotag]
[autotag]Chiara Penco[/autotag]
[autotag]Markus Perez[/autotag]
[autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag]
[autotag]Jefferson Pontes[/autotag]
[autotag]Jimmie Rivera[/autotag]
[autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag]
[autotag]Charles Rosa[/autotag]
[autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag]
[autotag]Cleiton Silva[/autotag]
[autotag]Wanderlei Silva[/autotag]
[autotag]Emiliano Sordi[/autotag]
[autotag]Julio Spadaccini[/autotag]
[autotag]Andre Soukhamthath[/autotag]
[autotag]Roggers Souza[/autotag]
[autotag]Gabriel Souza Galindo[/autotag]
[autotag]Jeremy Stephens[/autotag]
[autotag]Mohamed Tarek Mohey[/autotag]
[autotag]Diego Teixeira[/autotag]
[autotag]Oli Thompson[/autotag]
[autotag]Francisco Trinaldo[/autotag]
[autotag]Austin Tweedy[/autotag]
[autotag]Feruz Usmonov[/autotag]
[autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag]
[autotag]Jozef Wittner[/autotag]
[autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag]

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 COO 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.

UFC veterans in MMA and boxing action Jan. 19-21

Check out which veterans of the UFC are competing in combat sports across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC heads to Canada for its first pay-per-view event of 2024.

UFC 297 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, and is headlined by a middleweight title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.

Many other combat sports events are taking place that feature several familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing Jan. 19-21.

Scroll below to see how the UFC veterans fared last week, and see the names and details of this weekend’s competitors.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

UFC veterans in MMA, boxing and bareknuckle action Oct. 27-29

Check out which veterans of the UFC are competing in combat sports across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC is idle following UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.

Elsewhere, many other combat sports events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing in MMA Oct. 27-29.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

UFC veterans in MMA and boxing action June 30-July 2

Check out which veterans of the UFC are in combat sports action across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC returns to Las Vegas for UFC on ESPN 47.

The event at the UFC Apex features a middleweight matchup between [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] and [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag].

Elsewhere, many other combat sports events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

This week, there are a total of 13 veterans of the global MMA leader competing in MMA and boxing this week from June 30-July 2.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

UFC veterans in MMA, boxing and bareknuckle action March 17-19

Check out which UFC veterans are competing in combat sports events across the globe this weekend.

The UFC is across the pond for a massive pay-per-view in London, UFC 286. The event takes place at The 02, featuring a title welterweight title rematch between [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] and [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag], in what will be their third overall bout against each other.

Elsewhere, many other MMA events are taking place that feature familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

These 21 veterans of the global MMA leader are competing in MMA boxing this week from March 17-19.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

UFC roster update: Ben Saunders, Brandon Davis among eight fighters released

The UFC is trimming its roster entering February, with eight fighters parting ways.

As the first quarter of 2020 progresses, the UFC has trimmed its roster. At least eight fighters have been released from their contracts or not re-signed, MMA Junkie has learned.

Each fighter listed has announced the release, or a member of his or her team has informed MMA Junkie of the news. The order in which they appear is alphabetical, not chronological.

The exact time frames and terms of the releases (i.e. end of contract vs. severance) were not disclosed to MMA Junkie.

Junior Albini | Heavyweight (14-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC)

Nicknamed “Baby,” [autotag]Junior Albini[/autotag] made quite the impression in his UFC debut in July 2016. Fresh off the Brazilian regional scene, Albini was an unknown to most North American viewers. In his promotional debut, it only took the big man 135 seconds to dismantle Timothy Johnson. His win in his UFC debut would be his last, however. Albini dropped four straight fights to Andrei Arlovski, Aleksei Oleinik, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Maurice Greene. He was subsequently cut from the promotion and has since signed with Serbian promotion SBC.

Nathan Coy | Welterweight (15-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC)

It took [autotag]Nathan Coy[/autotag] 24 professional fights and a stint on season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter to earn a crack at UFC notoriety. Debuting as a pro fighter in 2007, Coy’s road to the UFC wasn’t the quickest or easiest. He competed practically everywhere, from Strikeforce to Bellator to a plethora of regional promotions. After serving as one of the leaders of Team ATT on TUF 21, Coy made his UFC debut at the TUF 21 Finale. He lost to Danny Roberts that night. He picked up his elusive first UFC victory against Jonavin Webb in June 2016. Coy appeared once more in April 2017 and was submitted by Zak Cummings. After the loss, Coy walked away from MMA to pursue other endeavors – but he elected never to make a public announcement.

More roster updates on the next page:

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