The inaugural Global Fight League draft took place virtually on Friday, January 24. The draft saw dozens of UFC, Bellator, and Professional Fighters League veterans selected to the six MMA teams.
The fights begin in April, and the season runs for six months with a monthly event through the playoffs and finals. There were a total of 120 draft picks. The teams are London, São Paulo, New York, Dubai, Los Angeles, and Miami.
Dubai selected Tyron Woodley as the No. 1 overall selection. The draft was conducted in a serpentine format, with many of the fighters landing in regions close to where they live or train.
Here is a look at all of the draft picks.
Global Fight League Draft Results
London
- Chiara Penco – Women’s Atomweight
- Kelly Staddon – Women’s Atomweight
- Josefine Knutsson – Women’s Strawweight
- Karolina Owczarz – Women’s Strawweight
- Julia Budd – Women’s Bantamweight
- Pannie Kianzad – Women’s Bantamweight
- Cameron Else – Men’s Bantamweight
- Josh Hill – Men’s Bantamweight
- Brett Johns – Featherweight
- Mike Grundy – Featherweight
- Benson Henderson – Lightweight
- Tim Wilde – Lightweight
- Danny Roberts – Welterweight
- Norman Parke – Welterweight
- Gegard Mousasi – Middleweight
- Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz – Middleweight
- Alexander Gustafsson – Light Heavyweight
- Ilir Latifi – Light Heavyweight
- Stuart Austin – Heavyweight
- Tanner Boser – Light Heavyweight
Los Angeles
- Cory McKenna – Women’s Atomweight
- Jessica Penne – Women’s Atomweight
- Ilimia-Lei MacFarlane – Women’s Atomweight
- Cynthia Calvillo – Women’s Strawweight
- Aspen Ladd – Women’s Bantamweight
- Leslie Smith – Women’s Bantamweight
- Ray Borg – Men’s Bantamweight
- Urijah Faber – Men’s Bantamweight
- Chad Mendes – Featherweight
- Tyler Diamond – Featherweight
- Sage Northcutt – Lightweight
- Tony Ferguson – Lightweight
- Lorenz Larkin – Welterweight
- Louis Glismann – Welterweight
- Grant Neal – Middleweight
- Uriah Hall – Middleweight
- Da Woon Jung – Light Heavyweight
- Rashad Evans – Light Heavyweight
- Frank Mir – Heavyweight
- Andrei Arlovski – Heavyweight
Dubai
- Anastasia Nikolakakos – Women’s Atomweight
- Jessica Aguilar – Women’s Atomweight
- Faine Mesquita – Women’s Strawweight
- Randi Field – Women’s Strawweight
- Alex Conners – Women’s Bantamweight
- Arlene Blencowe – Women’s Bantamweight
- Farboo Iran Nezhad – Men’s Bantamweight
- Timur Valiev – Men’s Bantamweight
- Aoilet Nurmatov – Featherweight
- Khumoyun Tukhtamurodov – Featherweight
- Damir Ismagulov – Lightweight
- Tofiq Musayev – Lightweight
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov – Welterweight
- Tyron Woodley – Welterweight
- Derek Brunson – Middleweight
- Luke Rockhold – Middleweight
- Omari Akhmedov – Light Heavyweight
- Ronny Markes – Light Heavyweight
- Ali Isaev – Heavyweight
- Todd Duffee – Heavyweight
Miami
- Kayla Hracho – Women’s Atomweight
- Natasha Kuziutina – Women’s Atomweight
- Hannah Goldy – Women’s Strawweight
- Paige VanZant – Women’s Strawweight
- Cat Zingano – Women’s Bantamweight
- Mariya Agapova – Women’s Bantamweight
- Eric Shelton – Men’s Bantamweight
- Marlon Moraes – Men’s Bantamweight
- Andre Harrison – Featherweight
- Charles Rosa – Featherweight
- Anthony Pettis – Lightweight
- Jeremy Stephens – Lightweight
- Dilano Taylor – Welterweight
- Gleison Tibau – Welterweight
- Hector Lombard – Middleweight
- Yoel Romero – Middleweight
- Philipe Lins – Light Heavyweight
- Thiago Santos – Light Heavyweight
- Robelis Despaigne – Heavyweight
- Junior dos Santos – Heavyweight
Sao Paulo
- Joice Mara – Women’s Atomweight
- Pamela Mara – Women’s Atomweight
- Camila Reynoso – Women’s Atomweight
- Viviane Pereira – Women’s Strawweight
- Alejandra Lara – Women’s Bantamweight
- Paula Bittencourt – Women’s Bantamweight
- Raphael Assuncao – Men’s Bantamweight
- Renan Barao – Men’s Bantamweight
- Julio Arce – Featherweight
- Maike Linhares – Featherweight
- Patricky Pitbull – Lightweight
- Lucas Martins – Lightweight
- Alex Oliveira – Welterweight
- Carlos Petruzzella – Welterweight
- Alan Patrick – Middleweight
- Douglas Lima – Middleweight
- Antonio Carlos Jr. – Light Heavyweight
- Maurico Rua – Light Heavyweight
- Bruno Cappelozza – Heavyweight
- Fabricio Werdum – Heavyweight
New York
- Bi Nguyen – Women’s Atomweight
- Marisa Messer-Belenchia – Women’s Atomweight
- Melissa Amaya – Women’s Strawweight
- Miao Ding – Women’s Strawweight
- Holly Holm – Women’s Bantamweight
- Liana Jojua – Women’s Bantamweight
- Jimmie Rivera – Men’s Bantamweight
- Zviad Lazishvili – Men’s Bantamweight
- Lance Palmer – Featherweight
- Kai Kamaka III – Featherweight
- Sidney Outlaw – Lightweight
- Kevin Lee – Lightweight
- Neiman Gracie – Welterweight
- Dillon Danis – Welterweight
- Phillip Hawes – Middleweight
- Chris Weidman – Middleweight
- Devin Clark – Light Heavyweight
- Ovince Saint Preux – Light Heavyweight
- Alan Belcher – Heavyweight
- Aleksei Oleynik – Heavyweight
The draft show wasn’t horrible though there were some bumps (leaks and misspellings) as well as some awkward commentary from UFC legend Mike Goldberg. Still, overall the intrigue likely grew after this stream.
There are some names that will draw some interest. We’ll see if the GFL can continue on and establish some momentum.
