Velaquez will serve as Team Manager alongside longtime AKA trainer Javier Mendez.
Global Fight League (GFL), the new team-based MMA organization launching in April 2025, recently signed former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez. The 42 year-old Californian will serve as Team Manager alongside longtime American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) coach, Javier Mendez.
“We are proud to be the first professional sports organization where men and women compete on the same teams and share revenue streams equally,” said Darren Owen, GFL Founder and Commissioner. “The incredible drawing power, athleticism, and competitiveness of the world’s best female fighters will be pivotal to our success. This groundbreaking approach represents a new era for MMA, where male and female athletes share equally in the league’s achievements.”
In addition to Velasquez, GFL also added 60 new female athletes to its women’s roster, including former UFC and Bellator MMA fighters like Cynthia Calvillo, Julia Budd, Jessica Aguilar, Pannie Kianzad, and Livinha Souza, just to name a few. The promotion’s 2025 draft gets underway in less than a month.
Velasquez (14-3) has not competed since suffering a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou back in early 2019. The part-time luchador is still facing prison time after pleading “No Contest” to attempted murder charges late last year. Sentencing is expected to be handed down later this month, which could impact Velasquez’s ability to manage for GFL.