A settlement agreement in the first UFC antitrust lawsuit was approved in Nevada, which brings to an end litigation that’s been ongoing for the past decade.
On Tuesday, Judge Richard Boulware issued a preliminary approval of the new terms of settlement after the UFC reached an agreement with the plaintiffs to pay $375 million to settle the antitrust lawsuit. The actual payout to fighters won’t be figured until after fees for the case are collected.
The lawsuit in question was first filed by fighters such as Cung Le, Nate Quarry and others back in 2014, which argued that the UFC engaged “in a scheme to acquire and maintain monopsony power in the market for elite professional MMA fighter services.” The fighters claimed UFC achieved that goal through three key elements: Exclusive contracts, coercion, and acquisitions that eliminated potential competitors.
That initial lawsuit covered fighters from 2010 to 2017.
An original settlement agreement was reached back in March for $335 million. That figure was supposed to settle both this antitrust lawsuits and a second suit that covered fighters from 2017 to present day; however, the judge denied that settlement agreement after previously stating in court that the agreed upon payout seemed low and that the fighters represented in the second lawsuit could object to arbitration and class-action waiver clauses in existing contracts.
A trial date for this lawsuit was set but both the plaintiffs and defendants in the case continued to work towards a potential settlement before reaching an agreement on the $375 million payout to settle the original case.
Attorneys for the fighters submitted a brief with a financial breakdown detailing how much the athletes would be receiving from the settlement.
“The $375 million all cash recovery provides a swift and significant payment to the Class against the delay, costs, and risks of a trial and appeals. As discussed above, Plaintiffs had initially proposed to allocate 75% of the Prior Settlement to the Le Class (75% of $335 million is $251.25 million), and thus this Settlement would increase the amount going to the Le Class by $123.75 million. Plaintiffs subsequently proposed to allocate 90% of the Prior Settlement to the Le Class (90% of $335 million is $301.5 million), and in that light, this Settlement involves $73.5 million more for the Le Class.
“Under the Settlement, Le Class members would recover (on average), after all fees and costs are deducted, $250,000. Thirty-five Class members would net over $1 million; nearly 100 fighters would net over $500,000; more than 200 fighters would recover over $250,000; over 500 fighters would net in excess of $100,000; and nearly 800 would recover over $50,000. By any reasonable measure, the Settlement, if approved, would put “life changing” cash into the hands of the families of several hundred fighters now.”
A total of more than 150 statements provided by fighters who competed in the UFC also submitted letters of support for approval of the settlement with hopes of receiving financial relief sooner rather than later. Numerous athletes including some former UFC champions detailed severe physical ailments and financial hardships in statements provided to the court.
Now with the judge handing down his decision, the next phase turns to the UFC making payment and then the attorneys setting up disbursement to the fighters after all fees have been settled.
Eric Cramer, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, issued a statement to MMA Fighting regarding the decision.
“We are extremely pleased that Judge Boulware granted preliminary approval of the $375 million settlement of the Le v. Zuffa case. It is a monumental achievement that will get significant relief to hundreds of deserving MMA fighters. We honor our brave representative plaintiffs who fought for this result for ten years. And we look forward to pursuing significant business changes and more damages in our second antitrust case against the UFC.”
Similarly, a UFC spokesperson also issued a statement to MMA Fighting about Judge Boulware’s decision.
“Today’s decision is welcome news for both parties. We are pleased to be another step closer to bringing the Le case to a close.”
As for the second antitrust lawsuit for fighters from 2017 to the present, that is still playing out in court but it’s possible that a separate settlement agreement is reached before a trial would begin. Most recently, attorneys representing the UFC filed a motion to dismiss the case on Oct. 7 but the judge hasn’t ruled on that yet.
Wow.
80% of that money will be spent within 3 months… Oh well.
If you were a pro fighter and 100k is life changing money it means you mismanaged your money and career and no way you can hold onto 100k or whatever.
I will tell you what I would do…id put that $100k into the best training camp ever and then really show people what i am capable of…
A U.S. District Court judge has granted final approval to a settlement agreement between the UFC and a class of former fighters who filed a lawsuit against the promotion more than a decade ago.
On Thursday, Judge Richard Boulware of Nevada officially approved the proposed settlement agreement, which will result in the plaintiffs receiving $375 million.
News of the settlement approval was first reported by John Nash.
The approval comes 11 years after the antitrust lawsuit was first filed by a host of former fighters, including Cung Le and Nate Quarry. The fighters argued the UFC crafted monopsony power over the MMA fighter market through restrictive contracts, limiting competition and coercive conduct.
Fighters who competed in the UFC from 2010 to 2017 were included in this class, the Le class. A second antitrust lawsuit (Johnson vs. Zuffa, LLC), which includes fighters who competed after 2017, is still ongoing.
The initial settlement agreement figure reached in March was $335 million. While both the plaintiffs and defendants were on board with the figure, Boulware did not find the agreement to be fair and equitable given the initial filing claims. The figure was supposed to include both the Le and Johnson classes. The two parties elected to then remove Johnson from the settlement and increase the dollar figure by $40 million this proposed agreement, which was presented in September.
“I’m proud to have represented Cung (Le), Kyle (Kingsbury), Nate (Quarry), Javier (Vazquez), Jon (Fitch), Brandon (Vera) and all of the MMA fighters in the Le v Zuffa class,” Eric Cramer, the attorney for the fighters, wrote Thursday on X following the approval. “We achieved some measure of justice. And now we continue the battle in the Johnson case.”
In September, the UFC voiced pleasure with the agreed upon terms.
“We have reached a revised agreement with Plaintiffs to settle the Le case with terms that we believe address Judge Boulware’s stated concerns,” the promotion said in a written statement. “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.”
According to Nash’s reporting, UFC attorneys Thursday encouraged fighters to file for and collect their portion of the settlement agreement.