UFC hall of famer Urijah Faber was among those fighters expected to compete in the GFL’s inaugural events prior to their sudden cancellation earlier this month. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
(Chris Unger via Getty Images)
Global Fight League is failing to honor its commitments to fighters in the wake of recent event cancellations, according to longtime MMA manager Lloyd Pierson.
In a statement issued to Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani on Thursday, Pierson, who represents multiple fighters signed to the GFL, accused the organization of failing to live up to promises made to fighters, causing them financial harm.
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“At its inception, GFL came on the MMA scene seeking attention by promising fighters large sums of money,” Pierson wrote. “Many fighters relied on these promises and, when GFL failed to deliver, have been financially harmed and forced to participate in prolonged fight camps for bouts that now will not occur.”
GFL recently announced the cancellation of planned inaugural events scheduled for Los Angeles this month, insisting that the events may take place in June, while citing funding issues. This was one of several troubling shifts, according to Pierson, who, as executive vice president of VaynerSports, represents multiple GFL fighters including Urijah Faber, Chris Weidman, Tony Ferguson and others.
“GFL and their CEO Darren Owen began recruiting top-level fighters during the last few months of 2024, offering fighters large financial purses and guaranteeing the ability to fight three times during the 2025 calendar year,” Pierson wrote in his statement to Uncrowned. “Relying on these promises, many fighters left previous promotions and made other difficult decisions for themselves and their families to pursue the GFL opportunity.”
According to Pierson, Owen attempted to address concerns about the GFL’s financial stability by “circulating copies and photos of the GFL bank account, showing they had over $20 million in funding.”
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Uncrowned reached out to the GFL founder Owen, who said in a text message that he had requested proof of funds from a primary investor.
“To do so, he transferred $20 million into our bank account to prove he had the funds,” Owen wrote. “He transferred the funds out of the account the same day. We had a monthly schedule of funds typically in the $200,000 per month range that he had been funding without issue until April. Whether it was the market crash or him getting cold feet, he did not fulfill his April obligation and subsequently halted our progress.”
According to Pierson, the funding woes resulted in some fighters failing to receive monthly stipends that were contractually guaranteed to them. This came with no prior warning, Pierson said, and has been accompanied by other sudden changes in GFL’s assurances to fighters.
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“Now, with apparent lack of funding for the GFL, Darren is asking fighters to compete for free,” Pierson wrote. “He has circulated a document showing a revenue share model for the fighters — a complete deviation from their contracted amounts. According to some fighters, the GFL is projecting to make almost $4 million from this event at the low end. Anyone who has been involved with fight promotion knows that this is unrealistic and flat out not truthful. The fact that these numbers are being circulated as reasonable estimates clearly demonstrates the disconnect between the GFL, their audience, and the current market.”
The offer of a revenue share in lieu of contracted pay was also mentioned by former UFC fighter Alan Belcher, who on his Instagram page this week referred to GFL as “for lack of a better word, a scam.”
According to Belcher, after the initial GFL event cancellation, Owen offered him “some revenue share and stuff if I would fight for not a guaranteed purse.”
Owen told Uncrowned that a revenue share model was one possibility that has been discussed informally, but no official offers of that kind were made.
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“In an effort to stage an event as soon as possible, potentially with a lower investment amount, we have explored different approaches to achieving this,” Owen wrote in a text message. “We have discussed the possibility of fighters competing for revenue or profit sharing, however we have not made any decisions on that nor have we made any official offers to anyone.”
Owen said the GFL is in “active negotiation with a number of investors,” and plans to proceed with events “when we have secured the necessary funds.”
As for claims that fighters’ stipends were cut off, Owen said that those who were eligible for those payments had received them through the month of April.
“We do have some fighters that were receiving purse advances,” Owen wrote. “I believe all that were eligible based on their deliverables were in fact paid for April. As of now we have not breached any of those agreements.”
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In his statement, Pierson said that fighters were struggling with sudden shifts in not only the terms of their agreements with GFL, but also the repeated changes surrounding event dates for GFL’s inaugural shows.
“In January, GFL conducted an extremely disorganized public draft process, where the number of teams was unexpectedly reduced from eight to six. Prior to and immediately following the draft, fighters were informed that the initial GFL event would take place in late April in Los Angeles. Shortly after that announcement, the GFL moved the inaugural event to May 11-12, which was confirmed in official letters to fighters and in bout agreements.
“Following this change, Owen confirmed there would absolutely be no more changes to this date. Again, reassuring fighters of upcoming bouts and to continue with the strenuous camps. Recently, without prior warning, Owen once again changed the event dates to May 24-25. During this period, some fighters received bout agreements that did not align with their contracted amounts, while others didn’t receive bout agreements at all,” Pierson wrote.
According to Owen, the total money between bout agreements and addendums “did equal the promotional agreement amount” for all fighters.
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“Our goal is to honor all agreements we have in place,” Owen wrote. “I don’t believe we have breached any agreements as of now. We have had one athlete to date who has requested and received their release. We will resume operations as soon as possible.”
There has thus far been no official confirmation of a date and venue for any upcoming GFL events. Pierson called it “extremely alarming” that any fighter would still consider participating in GFL bouts under these conditions.
“Two pervasive problems in the MMA community have been poor representation and a lack of solidarity among fighters,” Pierson wrote. “We, as leaders in the representation of fighters, must continue to fight for our clients, including educating them against accepting egregious deals such as that presented by the GFL. Additionally, the MMA community must stand together and recognize that through solidarity we can protect all fighters against fraudulent and predatory behavior by upstart fight promoters. These professional athletes must recognize their worth and refuse to compete without fair compensation.
“The GFL needs to secure legitimate funding if they wish to operate in the MMA space. Fighters should stand united in refusing to accept such treatment from emerging promotions.”
