It’s an exciting time to be an MMA fan because the UFC is no longer the only player in town. Although the PFL is struggling to compete against Dana White‘s promotion despite their massive Francis Ngannou-headlined PPV in 2024, a new league has emerged known as the Global Fight League. The latest alternative to the Las Vegas-based promotion is stacking up its roster with some names that UFC fans might be familiar with.

Founded by seasoned promoter Darren Owen and his business partner Arun Parimi, the GFL aims to change the landscape of mixed martial arts with its unique approach. Not only are they going to hand a 50 percent share of the revenue for the events to their fighters, but they’re also going to provide them with insurance benefits. This something that Dana White & Co. has never provided for its fighters. They have made some stellar acquisitions recently, and some of them were highly popular stars in the UFC.

The GFL signed Paige VanZant among others

Yes, Paige VanZant, who competed in Dana White’s promotion from 2014 to 2020, is now a GFL fighter. Following her UFC exit, the former strawweight fighter also made her way into the BKFC and into the crossover boxing promotion, Misfits Boxing, and even competed in Power Slap. But it appears that ’12 Gauge’ is still not done with MMA, given that she’s just 30 years old. Joining her in the GFL is another former female UFC fighter, Hannah Goldy as well.

Meanwhile, The GFL will hold its inaugural event in a few months in April, and as we inch closer to it, former bantamweight champion Renan Barão has also joined the roster and has already planned how many times he wants to compete this year. ‘The Baron’ is looking to fight two times this year while claiming that he loved the proposition from the promotion.

“I was just training in jiu-jitsu when I received a call from my manager. I got it right away, liked the system and it will be a pleasure to defend Brazil in MMA,” Renan Barão told ‘Sherdog’. “The proposal was good — actually it could be better — but anyway, it motivated me to return to an MMA training routine.” But there have been more additions to the GFL roster who also fought in the UFC. The GFL’s proposition seems to have attracted many top names in the sport, and now one of the UFC CEO’s biggest heavyweight stars has joined the competition.

Ex-heavyweight champion joined Dana White’s rival

After Tyron Woodley, Anthony Pettis, Fabricio Werdum, and Andre Arlovski, former champion Cain Velasquez, was the recent biggie to join the Global Fight League. UFC fans would remember the former American Kickboxing Academy star, who is an icon of the sport. Following his retirement in 2019, Velasquez made a brief appearance in WWE programming, but that wasn’t his only professional wrestling work.

Back in Mexico, Cain Velasquez also wrestled under the AAA banner, which is the biggest wrestling promotion in the country. However, he decided to return to MMA, but not as a fighter this time. The multiple-time PPV headlining former UFC star is joining the GFL as a team manager since the promotion is based on a team-based structure. Well, Cain Velasquez may not be fighting in the GFL, but another former champion will. So let’s move over to check out the former UFC fighters who’ll be competing in Dana White’s rival promotion.

These former UFC fighters’ decision to jump ship speaks volumes about so many of Dana White’s previous signings making their way into the GFL, and at this rate, fans can expect more fighters to jump ship in the future. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.