Kevin Lee Plans to Sue Failed GFL Promotion for Defamation, Extortion

Kevin Lee was just one of a number of prominent names the Global Fight League used to promote its launch.

However, the fledgling promotion never got off the ground, canceling its first two announced events that were scheduled for last month. Lee, who recently signed with the Professional Fighters League, hasn’t forgotten about the GFL’s inability to follow through on promises that were made.

“These last maybe 12 months or so we were in pretty heavy talks with GFL,” Lee said during an interview on “MMA Today” on Sirus XM. “They were supposed to be the new startup promotion. They were supposed to be the next big thing, and I got behind them pretty good. The talks were great, but there wasn’t no action behind it.

“I can’t speak too too much because on the situation, because now we’re going through legal and I’ll be suing them for some defamation, plus some extortion. I think that they used guys like me and used our name in order to get out there and be a major face of the MMA promotion business and nothing ever came from it.”

The GFL made a splash when it initially announced its launch and team-based format featuring numerous former UFC and Bellator champions. The promotion even held a draft and revealed a pair of star-studded cards for May 24 and May 25 in Los Angeles. However, those cards were scrapped, which GFL founder Darren Owen blamed on an investor who failed to fulfill his obligation. Owen initially claimed that the promotion would move forward with events targeted for June, but there has been no update on the GFL’s status since the cancellation of its first two cards.

Lee, meanwhile, will get a chance to make a splash in his PFL debut when he faces Gadzi Rabadanov in the semifinals of the league’s lightweight tournament on June 20. Rabadanov is the 2024 PFL champion and is in the midst of an 11-bout professional winning streak that dates back to 2021.

“Some people think that the UFC is the be-all, end-all and those are the best fighters, but this guy’s a very, very top competitor,” Lee said. “So once I go out there, and I beat him on June 20, I’m going to show that I’m still one of the best lightweights in the world.

“I feel a lot of people have written me off. A lot of people either forget or they just write me off. They think - I don’t know what they think, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I see people doubting me, I hope they continue to doubt me, I hope they continue to write me off, to not think about it, and I’m going to show them in a big way on June 20 when I go out there and stomp a lightweight that’s been proving himself again and again. Once I stop him in the way that I can, I’m going to show that I’m still one of the top lightweights, just like I was a few years ago.”