Not so long ago, the Latin American MMA promotion Global Wrestling appeared to disappear from the game. They certainly ceased, and the combatants were stuck in limbo. Then the competition returned in early 2016 – only to disappear again.
Now the cycle continues anew, and it’s the last chance to talk about arguably the biggest star of the promotion. At least, the competition has invested heavily in the prospect of Mexican flyweight Lucero Acosta and has made no secret of it.
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Often referred to by her nickname “La Loba”, the 32-year-old Acosta is set to make her PFL debut this Friday against Shannon Clark in Chicago. It will be his first fight outside of Wrestling, where he began his MMA career in 2019.
In May, Acosta (8-2) shocked many by revealing that she was no longer part of the competition. His announcement continued after the relief, with an undertone of past frustration;
“Finally, my contract ended with a company that didn’t give me a chance to fight, nor did I compete in any game because of exclusivity issues. I let so many opportunities out of the contract, and because of one man’s contention.”
It was not the first time that the combatant had fought inertly and castigated. Acosta’s past opponent, Maritza Sanchez, coincidentally finds herself stuck in the same boat for 2024. Sanchez ended up being sidelined for 15 months before completing the final fight of his contract in March 2025. But Sanchez was not the face of the company, like Acosta.
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“La Loba” fought only once in two and a half years before finally speaking in May.
“Acosta left us idle for a minute,” Acosta said through an interpreter. “So at the end of the day, when I wanted to try and generate other opportunities for myself, they wouldn’t let me fight. That’s why questions and issues came up, because at the end of the day I couldn’t do jiu-jitsu, I couldn’t do any other type of fighting. I didn’t generate money. That’s what got us so far.
“Finally, the agreement made, this opportunity” [with PFL] They rose up and that’s why we’re here now.
Lucero Acosta makes his PFL debut this Friday in Chicago. (Photo credit: PFL)
In retrospect, the Contest event underwent a stretch from July 2024 to March 2025. The promotion then hosted six shows in six months, with its final arrival in August 2025, before taking another extended break. The business returned this past February – after the first two events of the year, the March 26 show in Burbank was canceled. Two more successful Burbank events took place in May and April – then the Contest canceled nine events in the months after.
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The competition is currently scheduled to return on October 22 and has three shows scheduled for November. All are directed to Burbank.
Acosta was a major negotiator, he said, because of the false start that he alleged was placed before him. Despite her efforts to stay busy, Acosta said she was prevented from competing in another fight in both boxing and MMA. She simply kept and managed the bank account for her own strength.
Acosta kept the day of the deal, she said. According to Acosta, his contract with Crest included a matching clause of one year after expiration, which is where he entered the PFL, offering him a six-fight, two-year deal that Crest couldn’t match.
“The race was forced to release me, because it had no way of matching the numbers with the PFL, but to prolong the process,” said Acosta. “They wanted to make me the face of the competition, which I was, but then I was.
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“They didn’t let me sit, they let me fight. So if I don’t fight, how am I going to generate income?”
Years after her arrival at the promotion, Fighting CEO Campbell McLaren publicly hailed Acosta as the biggest star in women’s MMA — among other things.
When asked about his relationship with McLaren, Acosta said that the two had not been on speaking terms since his contract with Racing expired and that he had not responded to any messages received from him. She added “nothing to talk to him about anymore”.
McLaren responded to Acosta’s request with the following statement:
“Competition Global has honored the contract with Lucero Acosta, and we expect him to do the same. We wish him the best of luck in his post-competition career.”
Acosta now finds himself in uncharted waters amid his promotional transition.
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When embracing the differences of the past, he said he was happy and comfortable. He feels no pressure to step foot into the “big leagues,” as he called it.
Acosta said he hopes to increase his action by fighting his first PFL contract for the next two years, with three fights per year. But while it’s changing, the whole saga is still shocking.
“They did me good,” Acosta said. “Even though they didn’t give me fights, it was kind of hard. Then, when we wanted to fight, that’s when I started to notice, “Well, this is not work, because I’m not fighting with a fight or something like that. However, I will not fight outside the competition.”
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“Then you start realizing that it’s an event. Because we had a bunch of people whining about boxing for good, they didn’t allow us to fight.”
Although his momentum has stalled, Acosta still enters the PFL on a four-fight winning streak. The chapter in the story may end on a less pleasant note, but it doesn’t dwell on all the negatives, but instead embraces the future.
“It was an experience. There is no envy,” Acosta said. “As much as they helped me start my career, I helped them too, as a mutual agreement. We helped each other. It’s a learning experience, and I’m moving forward.”