Ahead of its inaugural draft Friday, the Global Fight League (GFL) has claimed to have signed former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.
In recent weeks and months, the newly created GFL — the latest attempt at making a team format successful in MMA — has announced a lengthy list of signings ahead of its launch in 2025, including multiple former champions from the UFC and other promotions.
And while the inaugural draft takes place today, the organization is still rolling out some notable names.
Among its latest slew of social media announcements, the GFL posted that it has signed Ferguson, whose UFC future has been uncertain after his losing skid reached a record-breaking eight straight setbacks last year.
It’s worth noting that many names announced by the GFL have refuted their signings, insisting that they remain under contract elsewhere.
15 GFL cards are planned up until August, after which two playoff events and one final will take place before the year’s end. The first is slated to go down in April.
The promotion’s team format will see six city teams — Los Angeles, Miami, New York, São Paulo, London and Dubai — select 20 fighters each (two per division) from a pool of over 400 fighters at Friday’s draft.
Each team has been assigned a prominent coach and team manager, with the likes of Ray Longo, Javier Mendez, and Conan Silveira confirmed as trainers and Cain Velasquez, Lyoto Machida, and Thiago Alves as managers.
Among the most notable fighter signings are former UFC champions Luke Rockhold, Tyron Woodley, Fabrício Werdum, Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, Frank Mir, Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski and Renan Barão. That’s in addition to high-profile veterans like Alexander Gustafsson, Yoel Romero, Gegard Mousasi, Aleksei Oleinik, Paige VanZant, Kevin Lee, Thiago Santos, Jeremy Stephens, Hector Lombard and Jimmie Rivera.
The signing of 48-year-old Wanderlei Silva’s has been among the most controversial with the MMA community. “The Axe Murderer” and 47-year-old Werdum both cited irreversible brain damage in their statements for the now-settled antitrust lawsuit against the UFC last year.
A number of other comebacks have also raised skeptical eyebrows, including the latest return from retirement for Brazil’s Marlon Moraes. The ex-WSOF champ most recently hung up the gloves after a brief stint in the PFL extended his losing skid to seven straight fights.
