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#4. Donald Cerrone, Cowboy Fight Series
Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone has finally retired from active MMA competition after 55 thrilling fights. Unfortunately, Cerrone's last seven fights were all unsuccessful outings. Four years ago, Cerrone was in a different position. He had just suffered a lopsided loss to former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, snapping his three-fight win streak in a bout that would begin his downward spiral.
However, after the brutal loss, 'Cowboy' announced his plans to launch an amateur MMA promotion called Cowboy Fight Series. According to Cerrone's own Instagram post, the promotion's purpose is to unearth the next generation of great mixed martial artists by offering amateur MMA fighters a platform on which to earn professional contracts, while also affording them the opportunity to train with Cerrone himself at the BMF ranch with the world's top-ranked fighters.
#3. Jorge Masvidal, Gamebred Fighting Championship and iKON FC
Three years ago in 2019, Jorge Masvidal's popularity erupted in a manner rarely seen in the UFC. The veteran of 51 fights had embarked on a three-fight win streak that saw him flatten Darren Till after the latter's title fight with Tyron Woodley, earn the fastest knockout in UFC history by being the first-ever fighter to defeat the then-undefeated former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, and TKO MMA legend Nate Diaz to capture the celebratory BMF championship.
While his two subsequent bouts were lopsided losses to former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Masvidal sold 1.3 million pay-per-view buys in their first fight to announce himself as a true superstar in the sport. To capitalize on his popularity, 'Gamebred' launched two MMA promotions. The first was Gamebred Fighting Championship, a bare-knuckle MMA promotion. His second promotion was iKON FC, which Masvidal designed as a platform for both prospects and veterans.
