UFC parent company agrees to $375 million settlement in class-action lawsuit brought by former fighters

By Sam Joseph, CNN

(CNN) — The parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has agreed to pay $375 million to settle a class-action antitrust lawsuit alleging anti-competitive practices against its fighters, according to a filing seen by CNN.

The agreement was disclosed in a filing by TKO – UFC’s parent company – to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and will “settle all claims” for an aggregate amount of $375 million, subject to approval from US District Judge Richard Boulware of Las Vegas.

The proposed settlement has not yet been filed in court, and the specific terms of the agreement, including whether the company has made any admissions or denials of wrongdoing, are not yet public.

The plaintiffs of the Le v. Zuffa case claimed that UFC used its position as the dominant power in mixed martial arts (MMA) to reduce the chance for its athletes to take offers from other promoters, and saying that the UFC “artificially supressed compensation” for fighters through a “series of exclusionary and anticompetitive acts.”

The suit was originally filed in December 2014 by retired fighter Cung Le – along with Nate Quarry, Jon Fitch and others – and involved athletes that fought for UFC between December 2010 and June 2017, according to a press release from Berger Montague, the law firm representing the plaintiffs. Last year, Boulware granted class-action status to fighters that fought in the United States for UFC between these dates.

UFC filed a motion to dismiss the case in 2015, but it was denied by the court.

UFC and the plaintiffs had initially agreed to a settlement of $335 million that covered the case and a second, separate lawsuit but this was rejected by Boulware, according to Reuters, because of how funds would be distributed to the plaintiffs.

“We have reached a revised agreement with Plaintiffs to settle the Le case with terms that we believe address Judge Boulware’s stated concerns,” UFC said in a statement to CNN.

“While we believe the original settlement was fair – a sentiment that was also shared by Plaintiffs – we feel it is in the best interest of all parties to bring this litigation to a close.”

The nine-figure settlement only pertains to the Le v. Zuffa case with the other lawsuit, Johnson v. Zuffa, still outstanding against the world’s leading MMA organization.
The case is still in its “early stages” and a motion to dismiss is “pending” according to UFC’s statement.

“We believe this new proposed settlement for the Le case is an excellent result for the class of UFC fighters we represent,” Berger Montague said in a statement to CNN. “If approved, it would provide immediate monetary relief to over 1,000 fighters, who would each recover a significant enhancement to what he or she earned from the UFC during his or her fighting career.

“We look forward to presenting the proposed settlement to the Court for preliminary approval in the near future. We also plan on vigorously pursuing claims on behalf of the fighter class in the later-filed Johnson case, including claims for injunctive relief against the UFC.”

The Johnson case – brought by former UFC fighters Kajan Johnson and C. B. Dollaway – is similar to the Le lawsuit and alleges that the company “violated antitrust laws by paying UFC fighters far less than they were entitled to receive and eliminating or hurting other MMA promoters.”

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