Tag: Luke Rockhold

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.

Sean Strickland responds to Luke Rockhold’s callout: ‘Xtreme? I’ll f*ck you up for fun’

Sean Strickland fires back at Luke Rockhold’s recent callout.

It didn’t take long for [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] to get a response from [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) recently criticized Strickland’s fighting style and performance at Saturday’s UFC 302. Not only that, but he went a step further and said he’d like to get in the octagon and fight Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC).

Strickland took to X to fire back. It looks like he’s interested in fighting Rockhold and would do it at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas rather than the UFC.

“Couple things… I sparred you 1 round, f*cked you up, and you snuck away like a b*tch. This was witnessed,” Strickland wrote. “Also, we were scheduled to fight. I said, ‘Hell yeah, that’s an easy paycheck,’ and you pulled out a few weeks out… Xtreme? I’ll f*ck you up for fun lol.”

Rockhold, a former UFC middleweight champion, is currently not with the UFC. He fought out his contract in 2022 after a Fight of the Night loss to Paulo Costa. Rockhold fought the following year with BKFC and suffered a TKO loss to Mike Perry. After some period of inactivity, Rockhold returned this past April to pick up a KO win over Joe Schilling at Karate Combat 45.

Strickland, also a former middleweight champion, is coming off the split decision over Costa, which put him back in the win column. He was outpointed by Dricus Du Plessis earlier this year, losing his UFC middleweight title.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Luke Rockhold pleads with Dana White to give him Sean Strickland: ‘I will f*cking end this kid’s life’

To say Luke Rockhold wants a piece of Sean Strickland would be an understatement.

[autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] wants a piece of fellow former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC), 39, parted ways with the UFC after losing a Fight of the Night brawl against Paulo Costa in August 2022. He was frustrated watching Strickland beat Costa in this past Saturday’s UFC 302 co-main event.

Rockhold doesn’t enjoy watching Strickland fight and would love to throw down with him in the octagon.

“If you were Dana White, would you ever want this guy fighting back for a title? I can’t stand watching this motherf*cker fight,” Rockhold said on the “JAXXON PODCAST.” “F*cking book me. Sign me up, Dana. I will f*cking end this kid’s life, I guarantee.”

Rockhold mouthed off on the UFC in the lead-up to his fight with Costa, so he isn’t sure if they’re on good terms – but he’s open to reconciling.

“(Strickland) just wants to get into like a brawl every time because he’s got that style (where) he comes from such weird angles that he wins a lot of those exchanges,” Rockhold said of Strickland. “He’s going to try and wear you out, but you’ve got to go high, low, you’ve got to wrestle with him. Dana gives me that hall pass, I’ll come in, I will step on that kid’s face.

“I left and obviously if a lot of people paid attention, they saw that week (leading up to) Paulo Costa I had a lot of things to say. I’ve been gone for a while, and I felt like I was mistreated a bit and so – everything is gone. Water under the bridge, but I don’t know if they want to deal with me. But if we did deal, I’d deal right.”

Rockhold and Strickland were booked to fight at UFC 268, but the fight was scrapped when Rockhold withdrew due to a back injury. The pair sparred before, and Rockhold is confident he’d get the better of him on the ground.

“I’ve worked with Strickland. He’s weird, he’s awkward, but he ain’t that good,” Rockhold said. “He’s got decent wrestling, he’s got decent defensive jiu-jitsu. Like, he just gets up. He knows how to get up. He’s decent with that. That’s what he does well.”

Strickland’s loud and unfiltered mouth also rubs Rockhold the wrong way.

“I hate that guy,” Rockhold said. “I know a lot of people look at me, and they just hate me. I see this f*cking kid’s face every time, and it’s just disgusting. He’s a fake little b*tch. He doesn’t even know who he is. I don’t think he believes the sh*t he’s saying these days. He’s just spouting off.”

After losing to Costa, Rockhold signed with BKFC and suffered a TKO loss to Mike Perry in April 2023. Rockhold then picked up his first combat sports win in years when he knocked out Joe Schilling this past April at Karate Combat 45.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Luke Rockhold has a wild idea for a Karate Combat grand prix involving UFC legends

If Karate Combat could convince four former UFC champions – two Hall of Famers – to compete in a one-night grand prix, would you watch?

If Karate Combat could convince four former UFC champions – two of them Hall of Famers – to compete in a one-night grand prix, would you watch?

That’s an idea floated by [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag], who was asked on the JAXXON PODCAST episode released Monday if he was going to fight Anderson Silva in Karate Combat. His answer is sure to raise some eyebrows.

“Yeah, [autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag], ([autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag]) and [autotag]Lyoto Machida[/autotag] all in one night,” Rockhold said.

Come again? You mean like a grand prix?

“It’s a lottery pick,” Rockhold said. “It’s me, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and Bisping, lottery pick, double fight, championship, Karate Combat.”

[Insert head exploding emoji here.]

TO BE CLEAR, Rockhold didn’t necessarily say this was in the works, but with Rockhold recently competing in Karate Combat, Bisping saying he’d be down for a Rockhold trilogy in Karate Combat, and Karate Combat trying to make a splash in the combat sports scene, it’s not inconceivable to think this could happen.

Would watch.

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Video: Buy or sell Ryan Garcia vs. Sean O’Malley, Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping 3 in Karate Combat, more

Ryan Garcia vs. Sean O’Malley, Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping 3: Are these good ideas? Our panel discusses on “Spinning Back Clique.”

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel reacts to some of the recent callouts and requests from MMA fighters.

This past week, we saw UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] double down on his desire to box [autotag]Ryan Garcia[/autotag]. We also saw [autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] say he’s all in on a return from retirement to fight [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] in a trilogy bout under Karate Combat. These were just a couple of the callouts and requests seen in the MMA world.

Are these good or bad ideas? Should matchmakers entertain these matchups?

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King, Farah Hannoun, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia make sense of all these callouts and give their takes on buying or selling.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and also don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.

https://youtube.com/live/1W_eLDUuvQE

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Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Conor McGregor buys BKFC, UFC 301 preview, Alex Perez’s KO, more

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses Conor McGregor becoming part owner of BKFC, Alex Perez’s KO win, the upcoming UFC 301, more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Farah Hannoun and Nolan King will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:

  • UFC on ESPN 55 is in the books. The UFC Apex event saw [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag] make a huge statement at 125 pounds, knocking out [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag] in the main event. This card also saw [autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag] pick up a big TKO win over veteran [autotag]Ryan Spann[/autotag], among many other results. We discuss the headliner bout, as well as other standout performances from the card.
  • UFC wasn’t the only show around this past Saturday. BKFC hosted the fourth edition of its tent pole KnuckleMania events. [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag], arguably the face of the promotion and the “King of Violence,” defeated former BKFC champ and former UFC title challenger [autotag]Thiago Alves[/autotag] in the main event of the card. It was also announced that [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] is now part-owner of BKFC.
  • This past week was busy in terms of callouts (and requests): [autotag]Chris Weiman[/autotag] interested in taking a step up against [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag]; [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] doubled down on his plan to box [autotag]Ryan Garcia[/autotag]; [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] interested in an interim title fight against [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]; [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] teased a move down to 185 pounds; [autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] says he’s all in to run a trilogy bout against [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] in Karate Combat.
  • Looking ahead, the UFC 301 goes down this Saturday in Brazil. Although not the most stacked pay-per-view, at least on paper, this card features a UFC flyweight title fight between [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] and [autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag], and the return of former UFC and WEC champion [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag], who fights [autotag]Jonathan Martinez[/autotag].

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Michael Bisping says he’s down for Luke Rockhold trilogy fight – with a condition

After Luke Rockhold’s Karate Combat win, fellow former UFC champion Michael Bisping is interested in a trilogy rematch.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] is 45 and hasn’t fought in more than six years, but an old rival may have stirred something loose in him.

On his “Believe You Me” podcast with former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith, Bisping said he’d come out of retirement for a trilogy rubber match against [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag].

But perhaps understandably, there’s a pretty big stipulation: The fight has to be under the Karate Combat banner.

This past Saturday in Dubai, Rockhold, who lost the UFC middleweight title to Bisping in a short-notice upset in 2016, knocked out longtime kickboxer and former Bellator fighter Joe Schilling in the Karate Combat 45 main event. It was Rockhold’s first combat sports win in years.

Rockhold ended his lengthy MMA career on a three-fight skid. After he lost the middleweight title to Bisping at UFC 199, he returned after 15 months off and knocked out David Branch in a main event. But his UFC run ended with knockout losses to Yoel Romero and Jan Blachowicz and, after a three-year layoff, a decision setback to Paulo Costa in August 2022.

Bisping was submitted by Rockhold in 2014 in a main event in Sydney, but got avenged the loss when he upset Rockhold for the middleweight title.

“Luke Rockhold (at Karate Combat 45) – I was doing a live (stream) to it,” Bisping said on the podcast. “And everyone was like, ‘You’ve got to do the trilogy.’ I’ll do Karate Combat against Luke Rockhold. I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I will have a trilogy with Luke Rockhold in Karate Combat. I would love to.”

When Smith pressed Bisping on it and said that fight should be booked, Bisping laughed and brought up some physical ailments that might keep him from fighting right away.

“This is gathering momentum a little too quickly,” Bisping said. “Let me just see my hip doctor first and get my neck sorted. I’m joking. I’d do it – 100 percent I would. Let’s go.”

Bisping defended the middleweight title against Dan Henderson four months after he beat Rockhold to win it. But in November 2017, he was choked out by former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre in the UFC 217 main event.

Three weeks later, Bisping pulled off a monumental feat when he stepped in on short notice to fight Kelvin Gastelum in a main event in Shanghai, but Gastelum knocked him out midway through the first round. Bisping announced his retirement about six months later, and eventually said it was due to vision issues he was having in his good eye after the Gastelum loss. Bisping had issues from a detached retina in his right eye dating back to 2013.

Bisping regularly works UFC broadcasts on ESPN as one of promotion’s primary analysts, typically alongside Brendan Fitzgerald and fellow former fighters Paul Felder or Dominick Cruz.

Ex-UFC champ Luke Rockhold knocks out Joe Schilling at Karate Combat 45, calls out Lyoto Machida

Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold called out Lyoto Machida after stopping Joe Schilling at Saturday’s Karate Combat 45.

[autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] is back.

The former UFC middleweight champion picked up his first combat sports win in years, putting away veteran kickboxer and former Bellator fighter [autotag]Joe Schilling[/autotag] in the main event of Karate Combat 45, which took place on Saturday afternoon in Dubai.

Rockhold stopped Schilling early into the third round. He connected a huge right hand that sent Schilling to the ground, and then followed up with ground-and-pound to close out the bout.

Below, you can see the video of Rockhold’s finish:

After the victory, Rockhold called for a fight against fellow former UFC champion [autotag]Lyoto Machida[/autotag] in Karate Combat.

“There’s only one man I want to fight in this pit, and that’s Lyoto Machida,” Rockhold said in his post-fight interview. “You’re lucky because they don’t allow elbows, so no more nightmares about the elbows. Bring it. Let’s see what you got, let’s see what the paychecks look like, bring out that check book.

“Lyoto, I know you need a pay-day motherf*cker, come get it.”

This is Rockhold’s second fight in his post-UFC run. After fighting out his contract with the UFC in August 2022, and briefly hinting retirement, Rockhold fought Mike Perry in a bareknuckle boxing in April 2023 – a fight he lost by TKO. He now returns to stop Schilling under the striking rules of Karate Combat.

Rockhold and Machida have fought previously. They met in 2015 in the headliner of a UFC Fight Night event. That night in New Jersey, Rockhold submitted Machida with a rear-naked choke. Machida is currently a free agent after parting ways with Bellator a couple of years back. He’s yet to officially retire and has expressed interest in fighting again.

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Video: Karate Combat 45 LIVE STREAM: Luke Rockhold vs. Joe Schilling

Watch Karate Combat 45: Luke Rockhold vs. Joe Schilling live and free from Dubai.

Karate Combat 45 is streaming live from Dubai and you can watch the full card for free on MMA Junkie in the video above.

At the top of the bill, Karate Combat 45 features a bout between former UFC champion [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] and former GLORY Kickboxing and Bellator fighter [autotag]Joe Schilling[/autotag].

Additionally, on the 12-bout card, jiu-jitsu star [autotag]Craig Jones[/autotag] takes on UFC welterweight [autotag]Rinat Fakhretdinov[/autotag] in a grappling match, and former Bellator fighter [autotag]Raymond Daniels[/autotag] takes on Eddie Farrell.

Below is the full lineup for the event.

  • Luke Rockhold vs. Joe Schilling
  • Luiz Rocha vs. Myrza-Bek TeBuev
  • Eddie Farrell vs. Raymond Daniels
  • Vitalii Dubina vs. Edgar Skrivers
  • Rana Singh vs. Shahzaib Rind
  • Himanshu Kaushik vs. Uloomi Karim
  • Pawan Gupta vs. Rizwan Ali
  • Adam Noi vs. Ali Motamed
  • Huang Shuai Lu vs. Ali Zainfar
  • Craig Jones vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
  • Kaynan Duarte vs. Pouya Rahmani
  • Zayed Alkatheeri vs. Osamah Almarwai

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Luke Rockhold signs with Karate Combat, debut set vs. Joe Schilling on April 20

Luke Rockhold’s post-UFC journey continues with a foray into the Karate Combat pit next month in Dubai.

[autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag]’s post-UFC journey continues with a foray into the Karate Combat pit.

Former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion Rockhold announced he has signed with Karate Combat and will make his debut at Karate Combat 45 on April 20 in Dubai against former GLORY and Bellator veteran [autotag]Joe Schilling[/autotag]. The fight is expected to take place at 195 pounds.

MMA Junkie verified the signings with a Karate Combat official after both athletes announced the booking on Wednesday.

Rockhold, 39, parted ways with the UFC following a loss in his final promotional appearance in August 2022. He then signed with BKFC and suffered a second-round TKO loss to Mike Perry in April 2023. He was also scheduled for a grappling match with Craig Jones this past fall, but it was canceled. Now he joins Karate Combat, where he can put his always-dangerous striking to full use.

He will take on Schilling, 40, who hasn’t seen combat sports action since October 2019 when he suffered a knockout loss to Tony Johnson under the Bellator banner. Schilling has been scheduled in a pair of combat sports bouts since then, but none of them have come to fruition.

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