UFC’s Bid To Dismiss Billion-Dollar Antitrust Suit Denied
In some breaking MMA news, The UFC lost its right to appeal a class action antitrust lawsuit that has been filed against them.
According to reports, the lawsuit was issued by former UFC fighters in 2014. The fighters claimed that the UFC had controlled how much a fighter could make by using anti-competitive measures to remove any competition and have a monopoly over fighters’ pay from 2010-17.
The lawsuit was subsequently given the go-ahead in August by Judge Boulware, who was very unhappy with the practices he had seen.
Lawsuit
“Record evidence indicates both that these tactics were intentionally and consistently used by management to maintain contractual control of fighters and to send a message to fighters that they were essentially stuck with UFC for the life of their careers,” Boulware wrote. “The structure of these deals, particularly the fact that the fighter was only paid when they fought, meant that these tactics were a credible threat to every fighter under contract with [the UFC].
“Thus, the ineluctable effect of these contract provisions combined with [UFC’s] coercive tactics was to prevent fighters from even understanding their true market value and engaging in negotiations with any other entity besides [UFC]. Due to this anticompetitive, coercive conduct, fighters were trapped by [UFC’s] exclusionary contracts and their restrictive terms, creating a situation in which [UFC] had unfettered power and opportunity to suppress fighters’ compensation,” Boulware
Implications
This naturally begs the question: what could happen next? Well, there is a chance that the UFC could settle outside of court in order to avoid losing the trial.
The move would likely to save the organization some money, as well as the damage that could emerge from losing a court battle.
The damages that are being sought are in the region of $811 million to $1.6 billion from 1,200 fighters, who made up the lawsuit. Some of the fighters involved in the lawsuit include Cung Le, Jon Fitch and Kyle Kingsbury.
In response, Judge Boulware has spoken about how a trial is expected to take place around April 2024, which has left the UFC with plenty to ponder moving forward.
After all, the rise of other organizations has given fighters more options moving forward. The PFL’s recent emergence on the scene has been helped by the huge offers that they are providing fighters.
Francis Ngannou’s decision to leave the UFC to pursue another route has gone down well. The PFL deal allowed the fighter the chance to box in 2023.
And in the process of doing so, the results were there for all to see. In a bout which made Ngannou the highest payday of his career, the fighter exceeded all expectations by going the distance with Tyson Fury.
Despite being given a split-decision loss, many felt he had done enough to win the fight. As such, the former UFC heavyweight champion is now being linked withe mega fights against Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
And that just goes on to show the lucrative sums fighters can make. Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingblitz.
