Canadian Darren Owen is no stranger to thinking big.

In 2011, he and fellow Victoria entrepreneur Jason Heit appeared on "Dragon's Den" to pitch for help to grow their regional mixed martial arts promotion.

Fourteen years later, Owen is dreaming even bigger with the Global Fight League.

Owen is the founder and acting commissioner of the new promotion, which is set to hold its inaugural draft Friday with each of the six teams --- Dubai, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Sao Paulo — selecting 20 fighters from a pool of more than 420 athletes from 67 countries.

"Everything and more is falling into place," said Owen. "It's pretty inspiring, it's pretty amazing. It's definitely even bigger and better than I anticipated it would have been at this time … to know that we are fixing the issues that everyone is having — and creating something new and different that's wanted and that's needed."

He calls the GFL "a positive disruption in the MMA industry."

Key to the new promotion is the premise that athletes taking part in a fight card will share 50 percent of the revenue generated.

The issue of a fair distribution of profits has long been a bone of contention in other promotions.

"Why do people watch these fights? They're watching the fighters. There is no sport without the actual fighters themselves," said Owen. "And you have a system set up where the vast majority of these fighters are making 10 to 15 percent of the revenue share."

Owen points to leagues like the NFL, NBA and the NHL where the players share in the revenue, calling it "a model that works very well."

"It's just the evolution of the sport (MMA)," said Owen.

The GFL also promises to set aside a share of the revenue to the athletes for a retirement fund as well as insurance.

The GFL pool of talent is full of name fighters, albeit some whose time seems to have come and gone.

Draft-eligible fighters include Mauricio (Shogun) Rua, Chad (Money) Mendes, Fabricio Werdum, Anthony (Showtime) Pettis, Andrei (The Pitbull) Arlovski, Frank Mir, Alexander (The Mauler) Gustafsson, Thiago Santos, Jeremy (Lil Heathen) Stephens, Benson (Smooth) Henderson, Hector Lombard, Junior Dos Santos, Luke Rockhold and Tyron (The Chosen One) Woodley.

Rua, Mir, Arlovski, Werdum, Dos Santos, Rockhold, Woodley, Henderson and Pettis are all former UFC champions.

Dubai manager Cain Velasquez, a former UFC heavyweight titleholder, is currently out on bail while awaiting a March sentencing after pleading no contest to a variety of charges including attempted murder

Others are fighting Father Time rather than the law. Romero is 47, Lombard 46, Mir 45 and Rua 43.

Canadian talent includes Tanner (The Bulldozer) Boser, John (The Bull) Makdessi, Jordan (Young Gun) Mein, Josh (Gentleman) Hill, Stephen (Big Bad) Beaumont, Jared (The Rebel) Revel, Mariusz (The Iron Pol) Ksiazkiewicz,Christian (T) Larsen, Simon (The One) Marcus, Pat Pytlik, Tom (Big Nasty) O'Connor, Jamie (The Gremlin) Siraj, Kyle (Killshot) Prepolec, and Ali Wasuk and Julia (The Jewel) Budd and Alana (The Anamal) Cook.

The 41-year-old Budd is a former Bellator champion.

To be draft-eligible, fighters have to sign a contract. But athletes who aren't chosen will remain free agents.

The draft will see each team pick two fighters from each of the 10 weight classes (seven for men and three for women). In drafting fighters, teams will have to do the math on their contracts — to ensure the payout fits in within the revenue-sharing model.

Each division will have a weight limit slightly higher than those in other MMA promotions, to reduce the need for severe weight-cutting.

The fighters will earn what is specified in their contract, which could be a guaranteed amount or a percentage of the fighters' piece of the cake from the card in question.

Marquee fighters in the UFC, the sport's leading promotion, can earn a piece of the pie if their contract calls for a share of pay-per-view profits. But traditionally UFC fighter contracts come with a basic "show" amount per fight with a win bonus.

Asked about the GFL, UFC president Dana White said he didn't know much about it.

"I say this all the time, I welcome everybody," he said. "There's no barrier to entry to get into this sport."

The GFL plans 18 regular-season events with each team fighting six times, to be followed by two semifinal events and the final. Each event will feature 10 fights.

Teams will earn four points for a stoppage win, three for a decision win, two for a draw, and one for a decision loss. The top four will make playoffs.

Broadcast details have yet to be announced.

Venues have already been booked in 10 different cities. To cut costs, the promotion may stage three separate events at the same venue on the same day.

The original blueprint called for a Montreal team but Owen says the UFC has booked the Bell Centre in the middle of the GFL season, with the venue blocked out for other possible GFL dates.

Owen has not identified his primary investor other than to say he is based out of Silicon Valley and is "a pretty genius individual who's done pretty well with his tech platform."

It's not the first team-based MMA competition.

The International Fight League started in 2006 with former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton leading the Toronto Dragons. The IFL folded in 2008.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2025