Global Fight League has finally confirmed its first card in Los Angeles.
The new MMA promotion was announced back in January and there are heavy hitters on their fight cards. There are plenty of former UFC champions on their roster; Anthony Pettis (UFC Lightweight Champion), Holly Holm (UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion), Benson Henderson (UFC Lightweight Champion), and Tony Ferguson (UFC Interim Lightweight Champion).
Unfortunately, plenty of these fighters aren’t what they use to be during their prime in the UFC. However, they do hold name value, even if someone like Tony Ferguson is on a eight-fight skid. Nevertheless, the card is pretty stacked and GFL kicks off in Los Angeles on May 24 and May 25th.
GFL is a bit different in that 120 athletes on their rosters are assigned to six teams that's made of 20 fighters. Two fighters will represent each of the ten weight classes. Fighters earn four points for a finish (submission or TKO), three points for a decision win, two points for a draw, and one point for a decision loss. A loss via submission or TKO earns no points. The points will contribute to the team’s overall score.
All six teams from Los Angeles, New York, London, Dubai, São Paulo, and Miami will fight in 31 bouts that span over two days and ten different weight classes. Below are the advertised line-ups for both days of GFL’s day show in Los Angeles. Of course, given the nature of MMA, fights can always change:
GFL 1, May 24, 4:30 p.m. ET
- Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao - bantamweight
- Chad Mendes vs. Maike Linhares - featherweight
- Anthony Pettis vs. Benson Henerson - lightweight
- Holly Holm vs. Julia Budd - women’s bantamweight
- Marlon Moraes vs. Ray Borg - bantamweight
- Alexa Conners vs. Cat Zingano - women’s bantamweight
GFL 2, May 25, 4:30 p.m. ET
- Tony Ferguson vs. Dillon Danis - welterweight
- Uriah Hall vs. Douglas Lima - middleweight
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Viviane Pereira - strawweight
- Alexander Gustafsson vs. Ovince Saint Preux - light heavyweight
- Alan Belcher vs. Stuart Austin - heavyweight
- Paige VanZant vs. Randi Field - strawweight
- Louis Glismann vs. Abu Nurmagomedov - lightweight