[6] Founded by Darren Owen and Arun Parimi, the league held its inaugural draft on January 24, 2025, where fighters were allocated to city-based teams.

[7][8] The GFL’s fighter-centric business model is expected to include health and injury insurance, a structured retirement fund, and a 50% event-specific revenue share with the fighters.

[9] On December 11, 2024, it was announced that GFL had signed Tyron Woodley, Fabrício Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Junior dos Santos, Luke Rockhold, Frank Mir, Andrei Arlovski, Renan Barão, and Benson Henderson, all former Ultimate Fighting Championship title holders.

Other GFL signees Marlon Moraes, Wanderlei Silva, Gegard Mousasi, Rafael Carvalho, Lance Palmer, and Will Brooks were champions in other major organizations such as the Pride Fighting Championships, Bellator MMA, and the World Series of Fighting.

Robelis Despaigne - HW Thiago Santos - LHW Philipe Lins - LHW Yoel Romero - MW Héctor Lombard - MW Gleison Tibau - WW Dilano Taylor - WW Jeremy Stephens - LW Anthony Pettis - LW Charles Rosa - FW Andre Harrison - FW Marlon Moraes - BW Eric Shelton - BW Mariya Agapova - WBW Cat Zingano - WBW Paige VanZant - WSW Hannah Goldy - WSW Natasha Kuziutina - WAW Kayla Kracho - WAW Fabrício Werdum - HW Antônio Carlos Júnior - LHW Maurício Rua - LHW Dhiego Lima - MW Alan Patrick - MW Alex Oliveira - WW Carlos Petruzzella - WW Patricky Pitbull - LW Lucas Martins - LW Julio Arce - FW Maike Linhare - FW Raphael Assunção - BW Renan Barão - BW Alejandra Lara - WBW Paula Bittencourt - WBW Camila Reynoso - WSW Viviane Pereira - WSW Joice Mara - WAW Pamela Mara - WAW Stuart Austin - HW Ilir Latifi - LHW Alexander Gustafsson - LHW Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz - MW Gegard Mousasi - MW Norman Parke - WW Danny Roberts - WW Tim Wilde - LW Benson Henderson - LW Mike Grundy - FW Brett Johns - FW Josh Hill (fighter) - BW Cameron Else - BW Pannie Kianzad - WBW Julia Budd - WBW Karolina Owczarz - WSW Josefine Lindgren Knutsson - WSW Kelly Staddon - WAW Chiara Penco - WAW Alan Belcher - HW Ovince Saint Preux - LHW Devin Clark - LHW Chris Weidman - MW Phil Hawes - MW Dillon Danis - WW Neiman Gracie - WW Kevin Lee - LW Sidney Outlaw - LW Kai Kamaka III - FW Lance Palmer - FW Zviad Lazishvili - BW Jimmie Rivera - BW Liana Jojua - WBW Holly Holm - WBW Maio Ding - WSW Melissa Amaya - WSW Marisa Messer-Belenchia - WAW Bi Nguyen - WAW Todd Duffee - HW Ronny Markes - LHW Omari Akhmedov - LHW Grant Neal[13] - MW Derek Brunson - MW Abubakar Nurmagomedov - WW Tyron Woodley - WW Tofiq Musayev - LW Damir Ismagulov - LW Khumoyun Tukhtamurodov - FW Adilet Numatov - FW Timur Valiev - BW Farbod Iran Nezhad - BW Arlene Blencowe - WBW Alexa Conners - WBW Randi Field - WSW Faine Mesquita - WSW Jessica Aguilar - WAW Anatasia Nikolakakos - WAW Frank Mir - HW Rashad Evans - LHW Da Woon Jung - LHW Uriah Hall - MW Luke Rockhold[14] - MW Louis Glismann - WW Lorenz Larkin - WW Tony Ferguson - LW Sage Northcutt - LW Tyler Diamond - FW Chad Mendes - FW Urijah Faber - BW Ray Borg - BW Leslie Smith - WBW Aspen Ladd - WBW Cynthia Calvillo - WSW Ilima-Lei Macfarlane - WSW Jessica Penne - WAW Cory McKenna - WAW