The upstart Global Fight League (GFL) has begun announcing match-ups for its inaugural season, with names like Chris Weidman and Yoel Romero involved..
A team-based “league” (all teams being owned and operated by the promotion), the GFL is expected to launch in April, with New York vs. Los Angeles being the first card on deck. On Thursday, promotion officials began announcing the first match-ups, with two revealed: a middleweight rematch between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold, dating back to their UFC title fight, and at light heavyweight, ex-UFC champ and PRIDE legend Shogun Rua facing Yoel Romero.
🚨 We’ve got our second official matchup! 🚨
Team Miami’s @YoelRomeroMMA takes on Team São Paulo’s @ShogunRua in a Light Heavyweight clash! pic.twitter.com/WQromnLJFl— Global Fight League (@mmagfl) February 13, 2025
No exact date or venue has been announced for the April GFL card, which was previously announced as taking place in Los Angeles. With the match-ups announced including Shogun (Team Brazil) and Romero (Team Miami), as well as Weidman (New York) versus Rockhold (Los Angeles), it’s also unclear whether both will be placed on the April show, or saved for later in the GFL season.
Lots of question, few answers. Still, the fights make sense from both a promotional and matchmaking perspective: all involve older fighters, none can really be seen as a mismatch, but all are marquee names. After Luke Rockhold defeated Chris Weidman to claim middleweight gold at UFC 194 in 2015, a rematch was scheduled, only for “The All-American” to pull out of the fight. Michael Bisping stepped in on short notice, and shocked fans by knocking the champ out inside of a round.
Rockhold vs. Weidman 2 never came to fruition. Luke Rockhold has won just a single fight in MMA since, against David Branch in 2017. He did defeat kickboxer turned mixed martial artist at Karate Kombat 45 last April.
Weidman stuck with the UFC all the way to the end of 2024, but suffered a horrific broken leg in a fight with Uriah Hall in 2021 that put him on the shelf for two years.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua retired in 2023 after losing three straight under the UFC banner. His opponent, Yoel Romero, is the only fighter among the four names announced to find any real success in MMA in recent years. He’s 3-1 in his last four fights, with the lone loss coming against Vadim Nemkov in a Bellator light heavyweight title fight.
GFL founder Darren Owen appeared on The Fighter and the Kid podcast to promote the new league, with that episode dropping on Thursday in conjunction with the fight announcements.
