Judge approves UFC antitrust lawsuit settlement, $375 million payout settles decade-long litigation

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.