Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred FC is returning with a planned 16-man heavyweight tournament, kicking off on April 10 in the Dominican Republic and includes a former UFC title challenger in the main event.
Anthony Smith, who retired from competition this past April, is returning to action for a bare-knuckle MMA fight at heavyweight as he faces off with fellow UFC veteran Chase Sherman. That fight serves as the headliner for the card, which kicks off the heavyweight tournament that takes place throughout 2026.
“Anthony Smith is taking off the f*cking gloves,” Masvidal told MMA Fighting. “Gone. Doing heavyweight, full MMA, same moves as UFC or any MMA promotion, just no gloves. It’s going to be a good old time. Anthony Smith is fighting another UFC alumni. Somebody that has a record as well for being one of the toughest guys ever. He has the stat for the most shots taken in a fight and didn’t get stop. This guy is a mean dude and God-given chin. He’s not Mexican but man, can he take a hit like one.
“Chase ‘The Terminator’ Sherman, this guy was built for bare-knuckle. He can take a hit and you just can’t put him away. That’s our first in the Dominican Republic, April 10, watch it live and free on my YouTube channel, my Facebook channel. We’re just putting it out there for the public to see.”
Masvidal said the entire 16-man heavyweight tournament is set with the exception of one fighter, who recently had to drop out due to injury, but a replacement is expected to sign any day now.
The tournament starts on April 10 with a second Gamebred FC show planned on May 1 in Miami.
The rest of the names for the tournament are going to be revealed at a later date but Masvidal also confirmed another matchup taking place in April as part of the Smith vs. Sherman card.
“Full heavyweight, we’ve got 16 heavyweights,” Masvidal said. “We’ve got five bouts happening April 10. The main event being Anthony Smith against Chase Sherman. We’ve got Guto Inocente versus Mohammed Usman.”
The winner of the 16-man heavyweight tournament is also going to go home with a six-figure paycheck as a reward with Masvidal hoping as time passes, he can continue to up the ante when it comes to how much his fighters are being paid.
“When we crown the champion, we’ll be giving them $500,000,” Masvidal said. “To crown the champion. It’s a working number, obviously I want that number one day to be like $5 million and get these fighters as much as we can, especially putting it all on the line with no gloves. But we’re working on it.
“We know we’re going to attract a lot of guys, a lot of top notch talent with this number. As we keep unfolding the tournament and letting people know who’s in the tournament, we’ve got names from A through Z. From up and coming guys to guys like Anthony Smith, who have been at the very top of the sport competing for the gold against the world’s best now coming to do MMA bare-knuckle. Who’s not going to tune in to watch Anthony Smith throw down? It’s going to be insane.”
Masvidal also said plans are in motion for a lightweight tournament as well but the heavyweight field is already set with the first two Gamebred FC cards in 2026 getting that started.
After promoting several cards between 2021 and 2024, Masvidal says he’s expecting a big year ahead for Gamebred FC, especially with the heavyweight tournament kicking off in April.
“It’s going to be some internet breaking shhhh… we’re going to turn a lot of heads,” Masvidal said. “When I’m thinking about putting these shows on, me and Lex [McMahon] are sitting down through the card — I want to get everybody involved and to do that you’ve got to create a massive card.
“You’ve got to get something for people to talk about. I got about eight UFC vets, two PFL champions, Bellator veterans and I’ve got some names that are going to turn heads.”
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