World Fighting League reportedly planning to sign 192 fighters ahead of inaugural 2023 season

The World Fighting League plans to make 2022 a very active year in terms of signing talent ahead of their first show.

According to Ariel Helwani, the WFL is planning on signing 192 athletes to their roster throughout the next year, with plans to officially host events in 2023. The league is expected to be structured in a more untraditional way compared to the rest of the mixed martial arts landscape, more comparable to the NFL, NBA, and NHL.

Helwani also reports that the promotion is in talks with several providers, including DAZN and Amazon Prime, for their eventual streaming rights, although nothing has been locked down yet on that end.

In terms of the financials and compensation for the athletes themselves, the report states that every WFL fighter contract will be paid a “traditional purse amount,” or 3.125% of the event that the individual fighter competes on, whichever number is higher. League officials are also hoping to be paid in U.S. dollars, or in crypto currency.

The plan for the league layout is to have four conferences—North America, South America, Europe and Africa, and Asia and Oceana. Each conference will be able to host anywhere between eight and 24 teams with 24 fighters making up each roster, which includes three fighters from each weight class. As of now, six owners have been approved, four in the U.S. and two in Canada, per previous reports.