# Global Fight League

The Global Fight League (GFL), originally announced as the World Fight League (WFL), is an upcoming American mixed martial arts (MMA) league scheduled to launch in April 2025. Founded by Darren Owen and Arun Parimi, the league held its inaugural draft on January 24, 2025, where fighters were allocated to city-based teams. The 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.

## History

The Global Fight League (GFL), originally announced as the World Fight League (WFL), launches in April 2025. GFL was founded by Darren Owen, who serves as the league's acting commissioner, and Arun Parimi, who serves as the league's chief operating officer, with the backing of Scott Parker, who serves as the chief marketing officer, and Jeffrey Pollack, who is the GFL's senior advisor.
The GFL will put on fights across ten weight-divisions, which differ from MMA's traditional weight classes: women's atomweight (110 lbs), 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). The GFL has a 300-fighter roster where 120 athletes are assigned to six teams, composed of 20 fighters with two fighters representing each of the 10 weight classes. A scoring system is set for the GFL's bouts where fighters 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 contribute to each team's total score.
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.
On February 4, 2025, the GFL released their schedule for their inaugural season with events that will take place at the following locations and months:
* April: Los Angeles
* May: New York
* June: London
* July: Miami
* August: Dubai
* September: Sao Paulo
One city will face another at an event and fighters are expected to compete three times in six months. Four of the six teams will qualify for the playoffs and fans will vote for the bout order.

## Teams and fighters

The inaugural GFL draft was streamed live on January 24, 2025 from Phoenix, Arizona. Six teams will take part in the league's first season, and the teams consist of:
Notes: HW = Heavyweight ; LHW - Light Heavyweight ; MW = Middleweight ; WW = Welterweight ; LW = Lightweight ; FW = Featherweight ; BW = Bantamweight ; WBW = Women's Bantamweight ; WSW = Women's Strawweight ; WAW = Women's Atomweight.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Country | | | | | | |
| 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 | Junior dos Santos - HW Robelis Despaigne - HW Thiago Santos - LHW Philipe Lins - LHW Yoel Romero - MW Héctor Lombard - MW Gleison Tibau - WW Dilano Taylor - WW Jeremy Stephens - LW Anthony Pettis - LW Charles Rosa - FW Andre Harrison - FW Marlon Moraes - BW Eric Shelton - BW Mariya Agapova - WBW Cat Zingano - WBW Paige VanZant - WSW Hannah Goldy - WSW Natasha Kuziutina - WAW Kayla Kracho - WAW | Bruno Cappelozza - HW Fabrício Werdum - HW Antônio Carlos Júnior - LHW Maurício Rua - LHW Dhiego Lima - MW Alan Patrick - MW Alex Oliveira - WW Carlos Petruzzella - WW Patricky Pitbull - LW Lucas Martins - LW Julio Arce - FW Maike Linhare - FW Raphael Assunção - BW Renan Barão - BW Alejandra Lara - WBW Paula Bittencourt - WBW Camila Reynoso - WSW Viviane Pereira - WSW Joice Mara - WAW Pamela Mara - WAW | Tanner Boser - HW Stuart Austin - HW Ilir Latifi - LHW Alexander Gustafsson - LHW Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz - MW Gegard Mousasi - MW Norman Parke - WW Danny Roberts - WW Tim Wilde - LW Benson Henderson - LW Mike Grundy - FW Brett Johns - FW Josh Hill (fighter) - BW Cameron Else - BW Pannie Kianzad - WBW Julia Budd - WBW Karolina Owczarz - WSW Josefine Lindgren Knutsson - WSW Kelly Staddon - WAW Chiara Penco - WAW | Aleksei Oleinik - HW Alan Belcher - HW Ovince Saint Preux - LHW Devin Clark - LHW Chris Weidman - MW Phil Hawes - MW Dillon Danis - WW Neiman Gracie - WW Kevin Lee - LW Sidney Outlaw - LW Kai Kamaka III - FW Lance Palmer - FW Zviad Lazishvili - BW Jimmie Rivera - BW Liana Jojua - WBW Holly Holm - WBW Maio Ding - WSW Melissa Amaya - WSW Marisa Messer-Belenchia - WAW Bi Nguyen - WAW | Ali Isaev - HW Todd Duffee - HW Ronny Markes - LHW Omari Akhmedov - LHW Grant Neal - MW Derek Brunson - MW Abubakar Nurmagomedov - WW Tyron Woodley - WW Tofiq Musayev - LW Damir Ismagulov - LW Khumoyun Tukhtamurodov - FW Adilet Numatov - FW Timur Valiev - BW Farbod Iran Nezhad - BW Arlene Blencowe - WBW Alexa Conners - WBW Randi Field - WSW Faine Mesquita - WSW Jessica Aguilar - WAW Anatasia Nikolakakos - WAW | Andrei Arlovski - HW Frank Mir - HW Rashad Evans - LHW Da Woon Jung - LHW Uriah Hall - MW Luke Rockhold - MW Louis Glismann - WW Lorenz Larkin - WW Tony Ferguson - LW Sage Northcutt - LW Tyler Diamond - FW Chad Mendes - FW Urijah Faber - BW Ray Borg - BW Leslie Smith - WBW Aspen Ladd - WBW Cynthia Calvillo - WSW Ilima-Lei Macfarlane - WSW Jessica Penne - WAW Cory McKenna - WAW |
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