The UFC announced Thursday it has reached a new agreement to settle an antitrust lawsuit, at the price of $375 million.
The figure is $40 million more than the promotion’s original $335 million settlement it agreed to in March as part of the Le v. Suffa lawsuit. In an unusual step, that agreement between plaintiff and defendant was rejected by Judge Richard Franklin Boulware II of the U.S. District Court of Nevada in July.
In its statement Thursday, the UFC said it believed this settlement will alleviate Boulware’s issues with the original deal:
“We have reached a revised agreement with Plaintiffs to settle the Le case with terms that we believe address Judge Boulware’s stated concerns. While we believe the original settlement was fair – a sentiment that was also shared by Plaintiffs – we feel it is in the best interest of all parties to bring this litigation to a close.”
If the settlement isn’t accepted, the UFC faces a Feb. 3 trial date, with potential damages numbering in the billions.
At issue in the class-action lawsuit is a group of more than 1,200 fighters alleging the UFC used its position as MMA’s top promotion to suppress fighter wages, with allegations including the use of exclusive contracts to delay or prevent free agency for fighters, coercing fighters into re-signing and acquiring rival promoters to eliminate potential competition.
The Le case only concerns fighters who competed in UFC between December 2010 through June 2017. For fighters who competed in 2017 and on, a different lawsuit led by former UFC fighter Kajan Johnson is still pending, with no trial date set.
The UFC said Thursday that process is still in “very early stages” and it has filed a motion to dismiss the complaints.
Jeff Bottari,UFC,antitrust lawsuit
