Quick Definition
Eagle FC is a Russian mixed martial arts promotion owned by retired UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Its full name is Eagle Fighting Championship, taken from Nurmagomedov’s fighting nickname, “The Eagle.”
What is Eagle FC?
Eagle FC is a fight promotion. It signs fighters, matches them against each other, and stages events. It does not train anyone, and it is not a sanctioning body.
Its place in the sport sits closer to a regional feeder than a rival to the UFC. Nurmagomedov said as much when the company launched, telling ESPN he had no interest in competing with the UFC, Bellator, or PFL. Eagle FC president Shamil Zavurov later described an understanding with the roster that nobody gets held back if a larger organization comes calling: “Nobody will hold them in EFC,” he told reporters after one card.
Two labels cover the events. Numbered cards, running from Eagle FC 30 through Eagle FC 58, are the main shows. Cards branded “Selection” are smaller scouting events, held mostly in Dagestan, where prospects fight for a place on the bigger nights.
The promotion is based in Dagestan, in Russia’s North Caucasus. Wikipedia lists Nurmagomedov as an owner alongside Rizvan Magomedov and Zavurov, who also competed professionally.
How Khabib built Eagle FC out of Gorilla FC
The company Nurmagomedov bought was not new. It started in May 2017 as the Federation of MMA of Samara, was renamed Gorilla Fighting Championship, and by 2020 sat close to bankruptcy. Nurmagomedov retired undefeated that October after submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. He bought the struggling promotion the following month for a reported $1 million, according to Sportskeeda, and put his own nickname on it in December.
Then came the American plan. Nurmagomedov told ESPN in November 2021 that Eagle FC was moving into the United States, with a January debut in Miami and more cards to follow, and that he expected to sign 50 or more fighters for the year. The company worked with media firm FLX on a production facility in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, the FLXcast Arena. His reasoning was blunt. “If you want to become big in MMA, you have to be in USA,” he said.
At that point the promotion had already run 15 events, almost all of them in Russia, with single cards in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
The weight classes that made Eagle FC different
One decision drew more attention than any signing.
In December 2021, Eagle FC announced a 165-pound division, calling it super lightweight, and moved its welterweight limit up from 170 to 175 pounds. The gap between 155 and 170 pounds has frustrated fighters for years. Kevin Lee, who signed with Eagle FC that same week, had pushed for a 165-pound class throughout his UFC run and got nowhere; Dana White has said the UFC will never add one. Nurmagomedov’s pitch to ESPN was practical rather than grand: plenty of fighters cannot make 155 comfortably and are undersized at 170, so the division answers a problem that already existed.
| Division | Limit before 2022 | Limit after 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Strawweight | 115 lb | not used |
| Flyweight | 125 lb | 125 lb |
| Bantamweight | 135 lb | 135 lb |
| Featherweight | 145 lb | 145 lb |
| Lightweight | 155 lb | 155 lb |
| Super lightweight | not used | 165 lb |
| Welterweight | 170 lb | 175 lb |
| Middleweight | 185 lb | 185 lb |
| Light heavyweight | not used | 205 lb |
| Heavyweight | 265 lb | 265 lb |
Eagle FC 46, in March 2022, gave the new division its first main event: Lee beat Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision in Miami. King of the Cage runs a 165-pound class too, under the name light welterweight, which puts Eagle FC in a small group of promotions to have tried it.
Eagle FC vs. Eagles MMA vs. Gorilla FC: what the difference is
Three names in Nurmagomedov’s orbit get confused constantly, and the difference matters if you are reading fight records.
| Name | What it is | Started | In use today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle FC (Eagle Fighting Championship) | A promotion that signs fighters and stages events | December 2020 | Yes |
| Eagles MMA | A fight club and team whose members compete for other promotions | November 2016 | Yes |
| Gorilla Fighting Championship (GFC) | The promotion Eagle FC was built from, before the rebrand | May 2017 | No |
A fighter can belong to Eagles MMA and never appear on an Eagle FC card. Islam Makhachev is the clearest case: he came up in the Eagles MMA room in Makhachkala and has never fought for the promotion. Old GFC titles, meanwhile, such as Tagir Ulanbekov’s flyweight belt, belong to the same company under its earlier name.
Fighters who have competed under the Eagle FC banner
Recognizable names carried the Miami cards, most of them near the end of their UFC runs. Eagle FC 44 in January 2022 put Rashad Evans back in a cage after nearly four years away, and he beat Gabriel Checco. Renan Barão fought on that same night, as did the heavyweight veterans Sergei Kharitonov and Tyrone Spong. Junior dos Santos and Antônio Silva both appeared at Eagle FC 47 that May, and Alexander Shlemenko headlined Eagle FC 42 in Sochi.
Movement off the Russian roster has been steady. PFL signed Eagle FC heavyweight champion Rizvan Kuniev in December 2022, per Sherdog. Across 2023, the Russian promotion ACA picked up three more Eagle FC champions, including Denis Izmodenov and Mehdi Dakaev, as reported by the Russian outlets Metaratings and Fight.ru.
Umar Nurmagomedov held the Gorilla FC bantamweight title before reaching the UFC, where he went on to fight for the bantamweight championship.
Is Eagle FC still active?
Yes, though not in the shape Nurmagomedov described in 2021. Sherdog’s records show 34 events and roughly 454 fights under the Eagle FC name. The most recent was Eagle FC 58 on April 26, 2026, a 12-bout card at the Triumf arena in Yakutsk topped by a flyweight title fight, with no further events listed as of this writing.
The American experiment lasted five months. Only three Eagle FC events have ever been held in the United States, all at the FLXcast Arena in Miami: Eagle FC 44 in January 2022, Eagle FC 46 in March, and Eagle FC 47 in May. Nothing since. EssentiallySports attributes the retreat to the war in Ukraine and the visa problems it created for Russian fighters trying to reach the US, and reports that the loss cut the promotion’s revenue roughly in half. Zavurov had already admitted how much the operation rested on one man: “We understand that if Khabib leaves, the organization will fall apart tomorrow.”
What is left is a regional promotion with a Dagestani core. Recent cards have run in Kaspiysk and Almetyevsk, plus Yakutsk in the Russian Far East. Eagle FC 56, in August 2025, was staged jointly with Fight Nights Global as a memorial tournament for Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Khabib’s father and first coach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Khabib Nurmagomedov still own Eagle FC?
Yes. Tapology listed him as the owner for Eagle FC 58 in April 2026, and Wikipedia names him alongside Rizvan Magomedov and Shamil Zavurov. His day-to-day involvement dropped sharply after 2022.
Why is it called Eagle FC?
“The Eagle” was Nurmagomedov’s nickname as a fighter. He applied it to Gorilla Fighting Championship after buying the company, keeping the event numbering the older promotion had built up.
Is Eagle FC part of the UFC?
No. They are separate companies. Eagle FC is much smaller and has been a route into bigger organizations, with champions moving on to the UFC as well as the PFL and ACA.
Did Eagle FC actually run a 165-pound division?
Yes. Super lightweight launched at 165 pounds in 2022, with welterweight bumped up to 175 pounds to make room for it.
What was the FLXcast Arena?
A Miami production venue in Overtown, built with media company FLX, where all three of Eagle FC’s American events took place. Those shows streamed free through the FLXcast app.
Sources
- Wikipedia. “Eagle Fighting Championship.” Accessed August 11, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Fighting_Championship - Wikipedia. “Super lightweight (MMA).” Accessed August 11, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_lightweight_(MMA) - Sherdog. “Eagle FC Fights, Fight Cards, Videos, Pictures, Events and more.” Accessed August 11, 2026.
https://www.sherdog.com/organizations/Eagle-FC-2295 - Sherdog. “PFL Signs Eagle FC Heavyweight King Rizvan Kuniev, Two Other Regional Champions.” December 6, 2022.
https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/PFL-Signs-Eagle-FC-Heavyweight-King-Rizvan-Kuniev-Two-Other-Regional-Champions-188625 - Tapology. “Eagle FC EFC, MMA Promoter.” Accessed August 11, 2026.
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/promotions/3741-eagle-fighting-championship-efc - ESPN. “Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov to expand his MMA promotion in the U.S. in 2022.” November 29, 2021.
https://www.espn.com/mma/story//id/32743952/former-ufc-lightweight-champion-khabib-nurmagomedov-expand-mma-promotion-us-2022 - ESPN. “Khabib Nurmagomedov adding Kevin Lee, 165-pound weight class to his promotion, Eagle FC.” December 15, 2021.
https://www.espn.com/mma/story//id/32875695/khabib-nurmagomedov-adding-kevin-lee-165-pound-weight-class-promotion-eagle-fc - EssentiallySports. “What Happened to Khabib’s Eagle FC?” January 15, 2025.
https://www.essentiallysports.com/ufc-mma-news-what-happened-to-khabibs-eagle-fc/ - Sportskeeda. “Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals date and location of upcoming Eagle FC tournament.” Accessed August 11, 2026.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-khabib-nurmagomedov-reveals-date-location-upcoming-eagle-fc-tournament - Metaratings. “Eagle FC champion Denis Izmodenov signs contract with ACA.” April 9, 2023.
https://mma.metaratings.ru/news/chempion-eagle-fc-denis-izmodenov-podpisal-kontrakt-s-aca-241937/ - Fight.ru. “Mehdi Dakaev moves to the ACA league.” April 8, 2023.
https://fight.ru/news/mehdi-dakaev-pereshel-v-ligu-aca/ - Metaratings. “Former Eagle FC featherweight champion Rasul Magomedov signs with ACA.” August 22, 2023.
https://mma.metaratings.ru/news/eks-chempion-eagle-fc-magomedov-podpisal-kontrakt-s-aca-276575/ - Khabib.com. “The Club, EAGLES MMA.” Accessed August 11, 2026.
https://khabib.com/en/about_club/
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