A promoter with highly ambitions plans to change the way fans watch MMA says his product will be ready in a matter of just months.
Global Fight League (GFL) founder Darren Owen announced the premiere of his new MMA brand for April 2025, beginning what he says will be a “proof of concept” year for them. Full details regarding the league’s unique format and eye-catching business plans were unveiled during an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday.
GFL’s model, while yet to be seen in practice, hopes to make MMA a team sport and bring greater benefits to those involved.
The Return of Team-Based MMA
Out of all the factors about the GFL which made it head-turning upon announcement this week, the most notable was the brand’s focus on turning MMA into a team-based sport.
GFL’s plan next year, as Owen explained, is to debut six teams which will compete against each other in a league format. These teams, each consisting of 20 fighters, will go head-to-head in regular season matchups before forming a four-squad postseason at some point.
When teams face off against each other, the results from one-on-one MMA matchups that evening contribute to the overall score on the night between the rosters. For example: A fighter who scores a first-round finish win would earn four points for his team, helping contribute to their overall score.
Owen said the teams will be drafted on January 24th from a pool of 300 talents they have inked agreements with. The fighters who don’t get drafted to a team will return to free agency afterward.
GFL released a list of the most notable names they have brought on for the draft, featuring numerous fighters who would be recognizable for their past UFC runs. Graphics published by the promotion this week showed that UFC vets who signed with them include: Tyron Woodley, Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Luke Rockhold, Wanderlei Silva, Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, Thiago Santos, Kevin Lee, Benson Henderson, and Gegard Mousasi.
Team-based MMA has been experimented with in the past but has never become a popular way for the sport to be consumed. The International Fight League (IFL) briefly toyed with a team format in the 2000s, running just a few seasons before shutting down in 2008. India’s now-defunct Super Fight League attempted a similar format in the 2010s as well.
Even without the team aspect, MMA utilizing a season format is still a relatively new and experimental concept. PFL, which remains a challenger brand to the UFC, wrapped up just its sixth year running a season and playoff system last month, a system they initially rolled out in 2018.
50/50 Revenue Split, Retirement Funds Promised For Fighters
GFL’s pitch on the Ariel Helwani Show this week also saw founder Owen attempt to sell ways in which they will be a more friendly option for MMA fighters to work with.
Owen mainly unveiled that the promotion plans to do a 50 percent revenue split with fighters, and that they will have retirement and insurance funds in place for those who compete as well.
As UFC’s treatment of talent has been under the focus of an antitrust lawsuit for the past decade, competitor brands have looked to portray themselves as more attractive homes for talent to lure both fighters and viewers. PFL has similarly attempted to highlight this in the past by referring to themselves as “fighter-first.”
Some of those who expect to fight in the GFL seem optimistic about the deal they have been offered.
“When you go over the contract, it’s very clear on what they can and can’t do,” said Kevin Lee on The Ariel Helwani show. “There’s a lot of incentive for us, which we don’t get from other promotions … When I saw the contract and I went over all the details about it, it made a lot of sense.”
Anthony Pettis, who also appeared on the show, considered the deal he signed “lucrative.”
GFL Still Has A Lot To Announce
While GFL has massive plans and a looming start date, there are still tons of details that have yet to be revealed. Team names, event locations and dates, and information regarding who is funding the company will remain private for now, Owen said on Wednesday.
GFL also has yet to ink a broadcast deal, an essential part of running a sports business in 2024. Owens mentioned that the GFL is looking for deals, but is also willing to stream the events on their own app if an agreement isn’t reached in time.
It has also been highlighted by some, including interviewer Helwani, that Owen had previously spoken about the same business model in 2021 and at the time expected a launch by 2023. Owen noted that the major hold-up for GFL over the past few years was funding, which they just recently received from a figure he described as a “silicon valley” entrepreneur.
“Everything’s in line that needed to be in line,” Owen said. “We’ve waited as long as we needed to wait to get to this point, and now it’s time. Our funding came in September, so since then it’s been go-time, put everything into place, and here we are.”
Those who question GFL’s lofty goals won’t have to wait long to see if they will live up to the hype. With the brand’s draft just over a month away and their first events planned for April, the GFL has some big expectations to live up to very soon.
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