The GFL finally reveals its first-ever card, and falls well below expectations
After a long stretch of silence amid broken promises, the GFL has finally found a lifeline after being dead in the water, and has announced its first event, but it's one that pales in comparison to the promotion's initial claims.
Back in 2024, the GFL drew the attention of the MMA community for its team-based format and, more importantly, its proposed 50/50 revenue split with a roster stacked with MMA legends. However, plans for a string of 2025 events collapsed, and it didn't take long for rumors about financial struggles to emerge. Now, after so much uncertainty, the GFL has announced its inaugural event, and it's a much lesser spectacle than what its top brass had once hyped up.
The GFL is heading to Argentina
The GFL's first card has been scheduled for Dec. 18 at the Microestadio Antonio Rotili in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As an homage to the host country of its inaugural event, the GFL has named the card 'GFL Showdown Argentina.' As the promotion had promised, the card follows a team-based format consisting of 20 fighters sorted into two teams, with 10 scheduled fights. The two teams in question are the Buenos Aires Gauchos representing Argentina, and the Miami Monsters representing the United States.
However, every single fighter booked for the event is a relative unknown. It's entirely different from what the promotion had once promised after having previously brought a large number of MMA legends into the fold. Some of the fighters who were once signed to the GFL are former UFC champions Tyron Woodley, Fabricio Werdum, Junior dos Santos, Anthony Pettis, and many more. The promotion's initial plans revolved around this planned cast of legends, former world champions, and pioneers.
The expected 50/50 revenue split was also jaw-dropping by MMA standards, as it would have been a massive departure from the UFC's less generous model. Furthermore, fighters who signed with the promotion were said to have been promised purses in the multi-millions. However, it all proved too good to be true. Darren Owen, the promotion's founder, lacked the capital necessary to pull off what would have been one of the boldest attempts at dethroning the UFC as the world's premier MMA organization.
In the end, all of the events that the GFL had announced prior were scrapped, leaving many hopeful veterans directionless. Only now has the it returned from the brink, but it barely resembles what it was once built up to be, with none of the big names, like Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson, and Dillon Danis as part of it.
