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By James Brizuela
Contributing Writer
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The MMA space is set to grow even more, as a new organization has been announced. That new organization is called the "Global Fight League," and it is headed by Darren Owen.
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Owen joined "The Ariel Helwani Show" to divulge all the information about the upcoming organization, even offering a start date for the organization.
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According to Helwani, the new league was meant to start in Feb. 2023. However, the official launch did not happen, but now Owen has revealed the start date of the Global Fight League.
"We got venues booked, we got fighters signed, and it's go time," Owen stated.
Owen then stated that the "funding wasn't in place" to launch the league back in Feb. 2023. He stated that he brought in a "legitimate team" from all respects of sports to help launch the league fully.
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Following the name of the new organization, Owen revealed that the league will have a draft that will kick things off on Jan. 24, 2025. What will be interesting is how the draft will work with respect to how expansion drafts work in other sports.
For instance, in hockey, all teams will have to surrender players to the new expansion team via a draft. If the Global Fight League is designed to follow this model, they might be pulling fights from other organizations.
Owen then broke down how the league will work, which is comprised of six global teams from four different continents. The proof of concept season will begin in April, and there are multiple venues already booked along with multiple fighters signed.
Owen also revealed that the league will employ revenue share and be team vs. team. There are 300 fighters signed to the league and 120 fights from the lot will join the six teams, which are 20 fighters per team.
What is interesting is the graphic that shows the revenue share mode, along with retirement and insurance funds, there are images of past UFC fighters shown.
Owen reveals the teams, names, and logos are not going to be announced until the new year. The cities that are booked will also be revealed then.
There are set to be 10 weight classes, which is comprised of seven for the men's division and three for the women's division.
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Owen also revealed the top 50 fighters who will be joining the Global Fight League, which is comprised of past UFC greats like Tyron Woodley, Kevin Lee, Andre Arlovski, Frank Mir, Wanderlei Silva, and so many more.
Though there are numerous MMA organizations, this concept does sound quite interesting. With many former greats being added to the potential roster, the Global Fight League could make quite a splash when it launches in Jan. 2025.
For more MMA news, head to Newsweek Sports.
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