UFC and fighter reach $375 million settlement with judge’s approval

A Nevada judge has given preliminary approval to a $375 million settlement to resolve the first of two antitrust lawsuits against the UFC.

Last month, UFC parent company TKO Group and plaintiffs in Le v. Zuffa to settle a class action lawsuit. On Tuesday, Judge Richard Franklin Boulware II approved the terms of the agreement, ending the decades-long legal battle.

A final approval hearing will be held in the coming months and the final payout to the several hundred fighters involved will be calculated after legal fees are paid.

“Today’s decision is welcome news for both sides,” a UFC spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN. “We are pleased to be another step closer to closing the Le case.”

Eric Cramer, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said they were “extremely pleased” with Boulware’s decision.

“It is a monumental achievement that will provide great relief to hundreds of deserving MMA fighters,” Cramer said in a statement to MMA Fighting. “We honor our courageous representative plaintiffs who fought for this outcome for ten years. And we look forward to pursuing meaningful business changes and additional damages in our second antitrust case against the UFC.”

In July, Boulware rejected the first proposed $335 million settlement, saying the amount was too low because it consolidated two separate lawsuits. The $375 million agreed in September focused solely on the Le v. Zuffa case, which involved fighters from 2010 to 2017.

With the settlement still pending, more than 150 fighters involved in the lawsuit submitted statements urging early approval of the amount. Many fighters cited financial hardships and physical ailments in their statements.

“I face significant challenges in meeting basic everyday expenses for food, shelter and transportation, as well as learning basic life skills necessary to function,” said Shane Carwin, a former UFC interim heavyweight champion, who added that he suffers from CTE. “This would truly be life-changing money for me and the other members of the class.”

The antitrust lawsuit dates back to 2014, when Zuffa was accused of violating antitrust laws by paying UFC fighters less than they were entitled to and using those practices to harm other MMA promoters. The lawsuit alleged that the UFC gained an unfair advantage in the MMA industry through years of anti-competitive tactics and “engaged in a scheme to gain and maintain monopsony power in the market for professional MMA fighter services.”

The UFC had defended itself by saying it had invested in the sport, pointing to rival promotions that have emerged over the last three decades as evidence of a level playing field.

The other antitrust lawsuit, Johnson v. Zuffa, involving fighters from 2017 to the present, remains in court. This antitrust lawsuit seeks permanent changes to both the UFC’s contracts and the promotion’s business practices.