Tag: Phil Hawes

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 Fight Night 234 post-event facts: Jim Miller adds more records to epic resume

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 234, which saw Jim Miller grow his all-time wins record and add more history to his resume.

The UFC returned from its holiday hiatus on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and although it wasn’t the most stacked lineup, UFC Fight Night 234 delivered seven stoppage results out of 11 bouts.

In the main event, Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) produced definitive closure on his rivalry with Johnny Walker (21-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC), scoring a second-round knockout in their light heavyweight rematch to potentially set himself up for a championship opportunity.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 234.

UFC Fight Night 234 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Jim Miller, Andrei Arlovski get max non-title payouts

UFC Fight Night 234 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 234 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $159,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC Fight Night 234 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 234 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Gabriel Benitez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ricky Simon[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Brunno Ferreira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Waldo Cortes-Acosta[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Preston Parsons[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Marcus McGhee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Gaston Bolanos[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Westin Wilson[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Nikolas Motta[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tom Nolan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Felipe Bunes[/autotag]: $4,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2341 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

  • “UFC Fight Night 234: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2” – $159,500

Year-to-date total: $159,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $22,866,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.

UFC Fight Night 234 pre-event facts: Jim Miller, Andrei Arlovski look to build on all-time wins leads

The best facts about UFC Fight Night 234, which features chances for Jim Miller and Andrei Arlovski to add to their historic resumes.

After a nearly monthlong hiatus, the UFC opens its 2024 schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 234, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.

Light heavyweight contenders are set to rematch in the main event of the card. [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] (18-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) and [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag] (21-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will run it back with five rounds scheduled after their originally meeting at UFC 294 in October ended in a no contest due to an illegal knee from Ankalaev that halted the action.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC Fight Night 234.

* * * *

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 30-Nov. 5)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Oct. 30-Nov. 5.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 23-29)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Oct. 23-29

UFC 288 post-event facts: Aljamain Sterling takes sole possession of 135-pound wins record

Check out the statistics coming out of UFC 288, where Aljamain Sterling added to a resume that points to him being the bantamweight GOAT.

The UFC made its return to New Jersey after nearly four years Saturday with UFC 288, which took place at Prudential Center in Newark and featured a 12-fight lineup with six stoppage results.

One of the fights that went the distance happened in the main event when [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) retained the bantamweight title with a split decision win over former two-division champ [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who was returning from a three-year retirement.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 288.

UFC 288 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Aljamain Sterling nets biggest bag

Aljamain Sterling received the highest Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay for entering UFC 288 as champion.

NEWARK, N.J. – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 288 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $267,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC 288 took place at Prudential Center. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC 288 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Kron Gracie[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Khaos Williams[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Rolando Bedoya[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Parker Porter[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Braxton Smith[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ikram Aliskerov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Joseph Holmes[/autotag]: $4,500

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $2,823,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $17,412,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

UFC 288 video: Ikram Aliskerov slumps Phil Hawes with one hitter quitter, calls out Bo Nickal

Ikram Aliskerov made an impact in the cage and on the microphone during his first octagon appearance at UFC 288.

[autotag]Ikram Aliskerov[/autotag] made an impact in the cage and on the microphone during his first UFC appearance.

In a quick gun-slinging contest at UFC 288, Aliskerov (14-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) slumped [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag] (12-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) with a pinpoint right hand that ended the bout in walk-off fashion at 2:10 of Round 1.

The middleweight bout took place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

For as long as it lasted, Aliskerov and Hawes traded heavy strikes. Each exchange had bad intentions. The finishing sequence was a textbook one-two punch. The two put the lights out. Hawes flopped to the canvas with his right foot awkwardly tucked under him. No follow-up shots were thrown or needed.

After the fight, Aliskerov broke out his English and called out rising star [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who is 1-0 in the promotion and has a bout scheduled for July 8 vs. Tresean Gore at UFC 290.

“Hey, Bo Nickal,” Aliskerov said. “I heard you want to fight with Dagestan guy. Hey, bro. I’m here. I’ll be waiting for your answer. I’ll be ready.”

The bout was Aliserkov’s first under the promotion’s banner after he earned a UFC contract with a quick submission on “Dana White’s Contender Series” in September.

Hawes fell to 1-3 in his most recent four bouts. All four of those defeats were by knockout.

The up-to-the-minute UFC 288 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

Ikram Aliskerov def. Phil Hawes at UFC 288: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Ikram Aliskerov’s first-round knockout win over Phil Hawes at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Ikram Aliskerov[/autotag]’s first-round knockout win over [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag] at UFC 288 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (Photos by Ed Mulholland, USA TODAY Sports)