UFC Officially Involved in Class-Action Lawsuit, Over $1.6B in Damages Possible
The ongoing UFC Antitrust lawsuit has been elevated to class-action, after a court ruling from Judge Boulware on August 9.
The UFC Antitrust Lawsuit Explained Simply
Back in December 2014, a group of MMA fighters --- some still active --- joined together to file a class-action lawsuit against the UFC and its parent company Zuffa LLC. These representatives, like Cung Le, Nate Quarry, Jon Fitch, and others, believe that the UFC used "improper strategies" to control the market for MMA fighter services.
In essence, they're alleging the UFC paid them a lot less than they should have, and that the UFC has formed a monopsony on the professional MMA market, which hurts all MMA fighters as a result.
This group of fighters is trying to represent around 1,200 other current and former UFC fighters.
After fighting in court for more than six years, in December 2020, the court said it's planning to officially recognize this group as a "class" of fighters and shared its written opinion about it. If the class is officially recognized, the fighters leading the lawsuit and their lawyers will represent the whole group of ~1,200 fighters.
"One of their goals is to recover money for all 1,200 fighters. Another goal is to force the UFC to change the way it does business." (via UFCclassaction.com)
Well, the court has now recognised the "class" to represent, which is the "bout class", or fighters "who competed in one or more live professional UFC-promoted bouts taking place or broadcast in the United States from December 16, 2010 to June 30, 2017."
This excludes fighters who are not residents or citizens of the US unless the UFC paid them to compete in the US.
So What Does This Mean for the UFC?
This means that all the 1,200 or so fighters who fit the class description are automatically part of the lawsuit. They can choose to opt out, but if they stay in, their claims will be included in the case.
If the lawsuit is successful, they could get a share of the money that's being argued to be between $800 million and $1.6 billion.
U.S Antitrust laws permit private plaintiffs to recover three times the damages to prove they have "suffered". This means the UFC might have to pay several billion dollars in damages.
If successful, this lawsuit could change the landscape of professional MMA, which is likely beneficial to fight fans, just not the UFC.
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