Can the Global Fight League Carve Out a Spot in the American Sports Landscape?

December 15, 2024
2 months

The Global Fight League is going to have an uphill battle. Attempting to wrestle any market share away from the UFC is a task that no other organization has sustained long-term. The WEC and Strikeforce had strong brands and fighters, but both were purchased and absorbed into the UFC.

The Professional Fighters League ultimately purchased Bellator. However, the PFL has struggled to handle the brand merger and has not put up much of a fight with the UFC. The GFL is hoping to compete by becoming a fighter-friendly alternative.

The GFL has made several promises that fighters would find appealing, according to the MMAfighting latest news. This would also be another league, like the PFL, based on a model that mirrors other American professional sports.

The GFL will have its first draft on Jan. 24, 2025, with the idea that the league will have a 300-fighter roster. There will be 120 fighters drafted to six teams based out of cities.

It’s an interesting concept, but it’s hard to tell if a more traditional sports model is good in combat sports. While the idea of a team is good in theory, there will still be only two people in the cage fighting each other.

What is the GFL Promising?

The GFL plans to have 10 different weight divisions, including opportunities for men and women. The planned divisions are as follows, according to MMA breaking news:

Women’s strawweight (120 pounds)

Women’s flyweight (130)

Women’s bantamweight (140)

Featherweight (155)

Lightweight (165)

Welterweight (180)

Middleweight (200)

Light heavyweight (225)

Heavyweight (265)

The league is planning to start in April 2025. During these events, teams will compete against each other, and a running score will be kept based on the results of the fights. Fighters would earn four points for a finish, three for a decision win, two for a tie, and one for a decision loss, and no points are given if a fighter loses by finish.

Trying to Keep Promises

The largest appeal of the GFL for fighters is the promised increased financial benefits. The founder of the league, Darren Owen, said he wants to do a 50 percent revenue split for the fighters. The best MMA news sites show that the UFC only pays out 18.6 percent of its revenue to the fighters under contract.

The GFL is also working to provide health insurance to the fighters with a structured retirement fund. Being able to follow through on these promises may be difficult at first. The start-up costs for any kind of sports league are usually astronomical.

Owen and his investors will likely need to stomach a lot of losses during the early days of the promotion. If this is to be more than a flash in the pan, everyone will need to believe in the cause.

Fighters Have Already Started Signing on Board

There are a number of fighters who have already agreed to participate with the GFL. The problem the league may already be running into is that there are a lot of veteran fighters on the backside of their careers who signed up. To succeed, the GFL needs to develop new stars who are compelling personalities.

Even the UFC struggled for many years before Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz came along. But this is a good opportunity for veteran fighters to find work. When Bellator was absorbed by the PFL, it took away another avenue other than the UFC for fighters to make money.

Here’s a partial list of some of the fighters who have signed with the GFL so far:

Tyron Woodley

Fabricio Werdum

Anthony Pettis

Junior dos Santos

Luke Rockhold

Frank Mir

Andrei Arlovski

Benson Henderson

What Are the Major Challenges?

Breaking into the United States market is crucial. While there are many markets around the world to make money, getting the Americans involved will be important. A big piece of that will be to make fights easily accessible and affordable on streaming.

There are plenty of streaming companies competing in an arms race for content. The GFL may fit in with a broadcaster that is looking to try and look up the combat sports market.

The UFC’s broadcast rights are coming up soon. There is a chance the UFC may try to split them up between several different companies, so the GFL may be looking to try and slide into an area the UFC left behind or wasn’t interested in.

Pressure is on to Develop New Stars

One thing that always plagued Bellator, besides bad promotion, was the inability to develop and promote its major stars. Michael Chandler has become popular since reaching the UFC, but Bellator should have likely done more to promote the events that he was fighting in. The GFL will find an uphill battle in finding young fighters.

The UFC has found major success since launching Dana White’s Contender Series. That is in addition to the reality show “The Ultimate Fighter.” Breaking through the UFC’s brand awareness will require finding personalities who can help carry the brand.

The UFC doesn’t always have an easy time doing that. Conor McGregor, Brock Lesnar, and Ronda Rousey all brought in casual fans. With how brutal the sport can be, it is important to have people who can connect with the average, everyday sports fan.

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.

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