There is a new combat promotion in town named GFL, and no one knows what to make of it. For the unversed, it was founded by Darren Owen and Arun Parimi. The Global Fight League, also known as the World Fight League, is an American promotion aimed at putting fighters in 10 weight divisions. But hold on! Because things are topsy-turvy with the newborn combat promotion right now.

On one hand, they have recruited an elite roster of well-known former champs, but on the other, most of the fighters are older or almost retired. However, the payment is good with health insurance and structured retirement funds – ever heard of that in MMA? But, on the flip side, there was a huge problem before the promotion could even hold its inaugural event in May this year.

GFL founder Darren Owens was pretty excited to announce that GFL was bringing exciting fights in May. He had spoken to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani on January 28th and said, “We can make the fights that people want to see, and we’re listening to everybody.” However, his example for a possible fight? Tony Ferguson, who is on an 8-fight losing skid, vs Dillon Danis, who lost to Logan Paul via DQ. But this has gone drained with the leaked texts from Owens to Helwani. As per MMA journo Jason Hagholm, “GFL Founder Darren Owen texted  @arielhelwani about the issues that caused the cancellation of the GFL debut shows in May. Owens hopes to hold the GFL debut shows on June 15th/16th outside of California.”

The picture of the messages was attached to the X post. The GFL founder also revealed that his “main investor didn’t fulfill his April obligation,“ which caused an issue leading to the cancellation of the two scheduled launch events on May 24-25. Nevertheless, Owens tried to stay optimistic and said that the events could be postponed to June 15 and 16.

While the inaugural event for GFL seems uncertain, MMA fans bombarded social media with harsh jibes at the new promotion while praising UFC CEO Dana White. They posted comments like, “UFC is just THE Powerhouse! Why do people keep thinking another league with the same rules as UFC will ever be successful? IT WILL NEVER MAKE IT!!” Meanwhile,  Tony Ferguson, who signed with GFL, lost his chance at fighting in May with the cancellation, and his patience wears thin.

Was Tony Ferguson’s first fight with GFL cancelled?

Ferguson was going to fight Danis on one of the dates set for May, but now it’s uncertain. The GFL started strong, signing ex-UFC champions and well-known personalities with offers that caught the fans’ attention, probably due to being too pricey for a company with no events to show a track record. Now, with nothing officially rescheduled and confirmed, fans and fighters under the promotion started questioning its durability.

Meanwhile, Owens did not back down and remained confident, but Ferguson and Danis were vocal about the whole ordeal. Danis reacted to the news with anger after recently missing out on a fight with KSI. “Bro, I just wanna f—— fight. Wtf,” he posted on X. A few hours later, he added: “Just got word, don’t believe everything you hear. My fight with Tony Ferguson is still on.”

‘El Cucuy’ also made a statement on his Instagram story saying, “Great practice. F—— bet it’s on. Dillon gon’ get it”. Owens did say that the event would happen in June and declared that there would be confirmation asap as per the leaked texts to Helwani. Will the GFL successfully redeem itself? Let us know in the comments.