In January 2024, a case which was a $1.6 billion class-action lawsuit was cleared by a federal judge against UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), the Las Vegas–based mixed-martial-arts (MMA) company.
The suit, which represented 1,200 fighters between 2010 and 2017, has charged the company with employing several inappropriate tactics to decrease their remunerations.
The crux of the matter is to decide if the MMA promoters exploited its alleged dominance in luring top-level MMA fighters and thus depriving the competitor MMA promoters of a chance to hire the MMA fighters.
The witnesses include Michael Chandler as well as luminaries such as UFC Hall of Fame fighter Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen, who will testify for the defendants in Ultimate Fighting Championship parent company Zuffa’s trial brief.
The listed fighters also include women’s star Miesha Tate and retired fan favorite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the trial, which is expected to start on April 15 in Las Vegas.
However, Zuffa counsels are pressing for a delay in the start of the trial, citing a scheduling conflict.
A number of managers of the MMA fighters are also expected to testify on behalf of Zuffa, which includes managers of top pound-for-pound fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kamaru Usman.
These are Ali Abdelaziz, Jason House, Josh Jones, Dan Lambert, and Ed Soares.
Ali Abdelaziz had looked after the affairs of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kamaru Usman, while Lambert, who works as a manager and also owns Florida’s American Top Team, is regarded as a premium gym in the world for MMA training.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship officials who have been called as witnesses include UFC CEO Dana White, Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta; matchmakers Joe Silva, Sean Shelby, and Mick Maynard; UFC regulatory affairs head Marc Ratner; and UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Eps.
The lawsuit alleges that UFC employed tactics that helped it maintain a monopoly in the market of elite professional MMA fighter services and thus removed all competition and ensured that the wages remained low.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages anywhere between $894 million and $1.6 billion.
The lawsuit represents former UFC fighters Cung Le, Nathan Quarry, Jon Fitch, Brandon Vera, Luis Javier Vazquez, and Kyle Kingsbury. However, the lawsuit also represents any MMA fighter who competed in the UFC during the bout class, which runs from Dec. 16, 2010, to June 30, 2017.
It is reported that UFC pays around 18% to 20% of its revenue to fighters, while the norm is to give a 50-50 split in most major team sports.
What’s at stake in the UFC antitrust case?
The lawsuit outcome will have a far-reaching impact on the mixed-martial-arts saga as well as the future of global sports entertainment.
The sport, however, has been transformed from a niche entertainment, albeit with a brutal reputation, to become one of the fastest-growing spectator sports in the world.
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