An anti-trust lawsuit in opposition to the UFC has been elevated to a class-action go well with following an August 9 courtroom ruling.
Initially filed in 2014, previous and current UFC fighters, together with Cung Le, Nate Quarry, Jon Fitch, and others filed a lawsuit in opposition to the UFC and its dad or mum firm Zuffa LLC claiming that the promotion used “improper methods” to manage the market. Primarily, the go well with means that the UFC fashioned a monopoly on the MMA market and consequently, paid fighters a lot lower than they need to have.
As much as 1,200 blended martial artists are mentioned to be represented by the group which was formally established as a “class” of fighters “who competed in a number of dwell skilled UFC-promoted bouts happening or broadcast in the US from December 16, 2010 to June 30, 2017” (h/t MMA Knockout).
This excludes fighters who should not residents or residents of the US until the UFC paid them to compete within the US throughout the designated timeframe.
The UFC May Be Compelled to Pay Billions in Damages Per Lawsuit
All 1,200 fighters will likely be represented within the lawsuit however every particular person has the chance to choose out. In any other case, their declare will likely be a part of the case which is claimed to be looking for between $800 million and $1.6 billion. Nonetheless, U.S Antitrust legal guidelines allow non-public plaintiffs to get well as much as thrice the damages. This implies the UFC could possibly be pressured to pay a number of billion {dollars} by the point all is claimed and achieved.
For sure, this class motion go well with might utterly change the panorama of blended martial arts. It might undoubtedly be a win for each fighters and even followers, however it could come as a large blow for the UFC, a promotion that has lengthy stood by its sketchy pay scale regardless of years of criticism at virtually each stage.
