Urijah Faber was one of the famous fighters caught in the fallout of the Global Fight League, and he recalls why it seemed like a good idea at the time.
In 2024, entrepreneur Darren Owen announced the launch of a new MMA promotion, the GFL, which promised a roster of names familiar to any fight fan as well as major compensation for its athletes. Alongside the likes of Tyron Woodley, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Fabricio Werdum, Chris Weidman, Holly Holm, and numerous other veterans, Faber signed on to compete in the team-based league, which was to hold its first events in May in Los Angeles.
However, in April, the events were officially cancelled, with no word as to when or if the league would attempt to relaunch. The only updates have come from the GFL’s Instagram account, which posted a cryptic message in October with no substantial details provided.
On the premiere episode of Dominick Cruz’s Love & War podcast, Faber spoke about his brief time as a member of the GFL roster.
“Without putting personal business out there too much, they were offering a ton of money and I actually had the main guy and a guy I knew that used to run West Coast Fighting Championship come to my house and kind of explain it,” Faber said. “I was just thinking, first off, this doesn’t make much sense. Parts of it made sense, but what he was offering and everything else didn’t make sense. The guy had an earnest idea, a bit delusional … some pieces that weren’t making sense. I felt like this guy was a bit gullible, a bit delusional, which is OK, and then my manager had seen [Owen’s] checking account with $30 million in it, so I that was the only reason I agreed to it. I was like, ‘OK, this guy’s real and he can write these big checks.’
“I also talked to Anthony Pettis and, I think, Paige VanZant, and they had been getting checks from him prior on pre-checks. Pettis was the one that’s like, ‘Bro, I’m going to tell you this GFL thing,’ and I looked at it and so honestly for me I wouldn’t have done it without the blessing of the UFC.”
Faber proceeded with caution, even going as far as to reach out to UFC CEO Dana White to ask him if it was OK for him to sign with GFL for a rematch with one-time opponent Renan Barao. Though Faber believes he was contractually clear of any obligations to the promotion he competed for from 2011-2019, he still felt it was a good idea to keep White in the loop.
It turned out to be a wise decision for Faber not to fully commit to GFL, and he later found out that the supposed funds that had been allocated to the fighters weren’t all they were chalked up to be.
“The chinks in the armor started showing up,” Faber said. “It turned out the money in the bank was just a snapshot of money he had briefly and then had to give it back and all this kind of stuff. They had asked me to do some things ahead of time, get my medicals and stuff, and I had already saw the writing on the wall.
“I told my management, ‘Don’t get the medicals. This thing is going to fall apart.’ It did fall apart, unfortunately.”
One of Owen’s ambitions was to provide a genuine alternative to the UFC, which has only furthered its dominance over the MMA industry in recent years. Owen hoped the combination of proven veterans and promoting franchises like a traditional team-based sports league would capture the imagination of fans – and investors.
While Faber admires what Owen was going for, he had no interest in taking sides, especially since he doubts anyone can win a business battle with the UFC.
“On the point of the GFL saying, ‘Well, this is what’s wrong with the UFC and everything else,’ I’m like, everything’s separate for me,” Faber said. “They run the way they’re going do it and have their success and I feel like the owner of the GFL was kind of to that note, but for me, I have a lot of gratitude and I feel like this sport is growing and we’re positioned the way we are because of black belts in business having the money. That was it.”
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