It appears that the
Global Fight League might be going under before it could even
get off the ground.
Advertisement
The fledgling mixed martial arts promotion has canceled its first
two events that were scheduled for May 24 and May 25 at the Shrine
Auditorium in Las Angeles. The GFL only
officially announced the two fight cards — featuring many
prominent veterans and a total of 31 bouts — last week. Yahoo! Sports was first to report the
cancellation, which was confirmed by California State Athletic
Commission executive director Andy Foster.
GFL 1 was supposed to be headlined by a trilogy bout between
Urijah
Faber and Renan Barao,
while GFL 2 was topped by a clash pitting Tony
Ferguson against Dillon
Danis. The promotion was planning a team-based format with
squads based in Los Angeles, New York, London, Dubai, Sao Paulo and
Miami. All told, the cards were expected to featured 42
UFC veterans and a number of former UFC and Bellator
MMA champions.
GFL founder Darren Owen told Yahoo! Sports that that events were
scrapped because “my main investor didn’t fulfill his obligation.”
Owen also said that the organization plans to “keep pushing
forward” with June 15-16 as the new target. However, California is
unlikely to be the location if those fights happen. Despite that
optimism, Ariel Helwani reported that there are “serious doubts” about the
future of the promotion.
The GFL made waves when its
launch was announced in December. The promotion boasted a
fighter-centric model that included “a 50% event-specific revenue
share model,” health and injury insurance and a “structured
retirement fund.” The GFL was planning to use a scoring system for
the bouts, with fighters earning four points for a finish, three
for a decision win, two for a draw, one for a decision loss and
zero for a defeat via finish; the totals would contribute to each
team’s score. The GFL
held a draft in January, and the number of prominent veterans
selected led to speculation that the league would ever come to
fruition. A broadcast deal for the two GFL events was not announced
before the cancellation.