Inside the UFL

by Fran Stuchbury
Published on April 23, 2026 under United Football League (UFL)

Two of the three newest teams in the United Football League secured their first wins in week four as the Louisville Kings and Columbus Aviators snapped their losing skids.

On Thursday, Louisville defeated the Houston Gamblers 24-22 in overtime to earn the Kings' initial victory. It was the second week in a row the team pushed into overtime.

"First of all just really excited for the city of Louisville and everybody that believed in us and and supported us through this crazy half a year it's been," said Louisville Head Coach Chris Redman. "Just want to say thank you for all the people: the coaching staff, the players the administration, from Mike Repole all the way down to even our equipment man. Everybody has been right there by our side working hard.

"Just really gratifying finally these guys have been working so hard to get a win, and I'm glad to see it finally showed up on the scoreboard. Jason (Bean) played a great game tonight and the defense stepped up when they had to. We got a little help from the football gods. it was a special night and a historic night for the Louisville Kings, our city and hopefully it won't be the last."

The Kings lost their previous overtime appearance after committing two penalties in the extra session, which by rule resulted in an automatic score for the opposition. Following widespread negative reaction to the rule, the UFL announced this past week that it would require a team to score in overtime going forward.

"Going into overtime for the second time, it was crazy, but that's what's fun about the UFL," added Redman. "We love the rules and are glad that rule got changed this week."

The majority of the Louisville scoring came via the foot of Tanner Brown who made five-of-six field goal tries including kicks of 59, 58 and 52 yards.

Kings quarterback Jason Bean connected on 17 of 34 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He tossed the game-clinching overtime conversion to tight end Tre' McKitty.

"It was an up and down game," said Bean. "I'm proud of the way the team continued to fight and continued to stay in it. We had our good moments and we had our bad moments. We are going try to correct the things that we made mistakes on and try to build off the things that we did really well tonight."

The victory was short lived for Bean who was traded to the DC Defenders for quarterback Mike DiLiello days later. Over four games, Bean accumulated 819 passing yards, four touchdown passes and one interception. He goes from being a starting quarterback in Louisville to now being a backup quarterback in DC for Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta'amu.

The Columbus Aviators also secured their first UFL victory, 28-14, over the previously undefeated Dallas Renegades.

The Aviators played smash mouth football with 47 rushing attempts for 201 yards and two touchdowns against a tired Renegades defense that was playing their third game in 11 days.

Running back John Lovett toted 15 of those carries for a team-leading 80 yards.

In the fourth quarter Columbus ground out an 18-play, 97-yard dive that took 9:59 off the clock and finished with a Toa Taua two-yard rushing touchdown which gave the Aviators a 14-point lead with 6:33 remaining in the game.

Columbus dominated time of possession at 36 minutes and 38 seconds.

"First off, I want to thank the man upstairs for giving me this opportunity," said Aviators Head Coach Ted Ginn, Jr., who secured his inaugural coaching victory. "Second off, want to thank the whole UFL family, my Aviator family and then I want to thank my players and coaches."

Ginn returned this week as the team's Head Coach after missing last week against the Dallas Renegades after being arrested for a DUI.

"This week was a restructured type week," added Ginn. "We were coming in with a lot of adversity from my situation that I had as a grown man. My players stayed behind me, my coaches stayed behind me, and today we went on and got our first win. Our record never gave us an opportunity to see who we are, but this victory has given us the opportunity to see who we are."

All-Access: Ted Ginn Jr. Locker Room Victory Speech

Top 10 Plays of Week 4

Every Touchdown of Week 4

Week 5 games

Friday, April 24th

DC Defenders at Birmingham Stallions - 8 pm est. FOX

Saturday, April 25th

St. Louis Battlehawks at Orlando Storm - 7 pm est. ESPN

Sunday, April 26th

Columbus Aviators at Houston Gamblers - 12 pm est. ABC

Louisville Kings at Dallas Renegades - 3 pm est. ABC

EXTRA POINTS

1. Attendance at the Louisville at Houston game was 4,880. Friday's Dallas at Columbus contest drew 8,729. Saturday's St. Louis at DC game attracted 7,940, while the Orlando at Birmingham weekend finale drew 18,340 spectators.

2. DC Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta'amu, Louisville Kings linebacker Cam Gill and Louisville tight end Tre' McKitty were named the OurSports Central United Football League Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Unsung Hero of the Week, respectively, for week four of UFL season.

3. The Orlando Storm shut out the Birmingham Stallions 16-0. It was the first shutout in the UFL since the 2024 Championship Game in which the Birmingham Stallions cruised to a 25-0 victory over the San Antonio Brahmas.

4. VP of Officiating Dean Blandino provides an update on the UFL Overtime Rules:

5. The Dallas Renegades and the United Football League joined together in a unified effort to honor service members and their families through the league-wide Hats Off To Heroes initiative, highlighted by the Renegades' fifth and final regular season home game, which will take place on Friday, May 15th, at Phantom Warrior Stadium on the Fort Hood U.S. Army military base near Killeen, Texas. The Renegades will face the Orlando Storm in front of a stadium audience composed exclusively of service members and their families.

6. The Birmingham Stallions acquired quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson from the Orlando Storm in exchange for quarterback Matt Corral and defensive end Amani Bledsoe.

7. The St. Louis Battlehawks announced a trade for quarterback Luis Perez from the Dallas Renegades in exchange for offensive tackle Corey Stewart. Perez has played in eight spring football league seasons.

8. My UFL Best Bet Lock of the Week is the DC Defenders -6.5 over the Birmingham Stallions. The Defenders, winners of three straight, have been productive on offense during their streak, while the Stallions, losers of three in a row, have struggled to move the ball. Birmingham is last in the UFL with 65 points scored. Whoever plays at quarterback for the Stallions, Michael Hiers or newly-acquired Thompson-Robinson, will be hard pressed to turn the offense around that quickly. Look for the Defenders to extend their winning streak.

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.