Tyron Woodley goes No. 1 overall in GFL draft, four other former UFC champs selected in first two rounds
01/24/2025 09:14 PM
Tyron Woodley is "The Chosen One" indeed at the GFL draft.
On Friday night, the Global Fight League held its inaugural promotional draft, with 120 fighters joining the six different teams. The promotion promises to be the future of MMA, and in that future, Tyron Woodley will be leading the charge as "The Chosen One" was selected first overall by the Dubai team.
Woodley is a former UFC welterweight champion, having held the title from 2016 through 2018. However, Woodley ended his UFC career on a four-fight losing streak, exiting the promotion in 2021. Woodley then faced Jake Paul in a pair of boxing matches, losing both, and has not competed since.
Woodley was not the only former UFC champion to go early in the GFL draft. Former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos went third overall to the Miami-based team and former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum went fourth overall to the Sao Paulo Team. In the second round, recent UFC retiree and former middleweight champion Chris Weidman was New York's second-round selection, while Miami went for back-to-back UFC champions, selecting former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
That's a wrap from Round 2 of the inaugural GFL draft.
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) January 25, 2025
How do you think each team is shaping up? pic.twitter.com/VWSFHBA2C8
Follow along with all the GFL draft selections here.
