UFC rival promotion announces brand new weight classes in an attempt to avoid extreme weight-cutting

01/10/2025 08:15 AM

It was announced at the end of 2024 that a new MMA promotion, Global Fight League will finally launch its inaugural season in April 2025 and they have some big news regarding weight classes.

Global Fight League has been in talks to launch its inaugural season for several years now but they finally announced at the end of 2024 that their inaugural season will kick off in April this year, with a draft coming later this month.

The unique promotion will run as a team-based product and on January 24, a virtual selection process will take place to determine which fighters are on which teams.

The GFL is also looking to combat one of the biggest issues in professional fighting, weight-cutting.

GFL reveals their weight classes ahead of inaugural season in 2025

Ahead of their launch, the promotion has announced its roster which includes several former UFC fighters like Paige VanZant, Wanderlei Silva, Tyron Woodley, and many more.

The promotion has come under a lot of scrutiny following the release of their roster due to the fact that a lot of the fighters are over 35 years old.

Of the 102 fighters already announced to be competing under the GFL banner, 55 of them are 35+ years old, with 19 of them in their 40’s. It was then reported that a heavyweight fighter on the roster signed a contract for $1.4m per fight, raising concern regarding their financial output.

GFL isn’t the only UFC rival that has recently received criticism, as the PFL has been put on blast by fans after they announced that they are reducing their $1m tournament prize to $500k.

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However, one way in which the GFL is looking to separate itself from the powerhouse that is the UFC is by creating brand-new weight classes. A big criticism of the UFC’s model is that there is too much of a jump in weight between their categories.

GFL announced this past Thursday that they are committed to ‘reducing extreme weight-cutting by increasing weight class limits’.

The women’s divisions will start at 110lbs with atomweight, then strawweight comes at 125lbs with the women’s bantamweight limit being set at 140lbs.

The men’s weight classes will begin at 145lb bantamweight with the featherweight limit being 155lbs. Lightweight will then have a limit of 165lbs and welterweight of 180lbs. The middleweight limit will be 200lbs and lightweight will be topped at 225lbs with heavyweight 265lbs.

Fighters and fans react to the GFL’s new weight class limits

As part of their announcement, the promotion said: “The GFL is committed to reducing extreme weight-cutting by increasing weight class limits, ensuring athletes maintain optimal health and peak performance while minimizing injuries.

“This approach helps fighters stay healthier and better prepared to deliver thrilling performances for fans.”

Despite the promotion’s attempt to get the fighters and fans on their side, their announcement was met with a suggestion by former UFC star, Muhammad Mokaev.

“We respect that position; however, we found that having too many in-between weights caused a lot of trouble when trying to remove extreme weight-cutting,” the promotion responded.

A well-known fan in the MMA community commented: “If you are concerned about fighter health, might I suggest not signing geriatric fighters?”

“Wanderlei Silva is 48 years old. It doesn’t matter if it’s 200, 225, or 265. He has zero business fighting,” another fan commented.