Bellator MMA Files Lawsuit Against UFC
Shots have been fired between the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Bellator MMA.
Back in 2014, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the UFC when several mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters accused the largest MMA promotion in the world of violating antitrust laws. This did not sit well with the UFC, obviously, so the promotion is fighting back and is hoping to use Bellator to prove that it treats the fighters the same, if not better than other MMA promotions. The key to proving all of this is to receive copies of Bellator’s financial details.
To no one’s surprise, Bellator President Scott Coker and Viacom, which is the parent company of Bellator, are not going to just hand over that important information just because the UFC attorneys asked for it. Bellator recently filed an affidavit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in an attempted to block subpoenas from UFC. In the affidavit, Bellator stated that they have already “produced in excess of two thousand pages of responsive documents” that pertains to the antitrust case, according to Sporting News.
The last thing that any business wants is for their competitor to be armed with all of their info as well as all of its trade secrets. Not only does it hurt Bellator but it could hurt the fighters as well when it comes to contract negotiations. Lawsuits usually drag on for as long as possible, and the perfect example of that is the antitrust lawsuit against the UFC as it’s already been two years and nothing has been accomplished so expect to see the next update in another two years, which would be 2019.
