Outside Source
It appears that the Global Fight League might be going under before it could even get off the ground.
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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.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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