Report: Huge Lawsuit By Fighters Against Zuffa Is On The Horizon
Current and former fighters stand to be rewarded hundreds of millions of dollars by a class action lawsuit against Zuffa LLC…..
After years of fighters, current and former, and media accusing the UFC brand of monopolizing the market in MMA, it looks like something is being done. A major law firm has taken up the case, and they have a pretty scary reputation among shady organizations that they have beaten in the past. Zuffa LLC are small potatoes compared to some of the trophies on these lawyer’s trophy wall.
A report on Bloodyelbow.com first broke the news:
We have been able to confirm that the suit will be based on accusations that the UFC has violated antitrust laws by abusing their “market power” to intentionally and systematically cripple the free market. Several of the individuals we spoke to compared it to the recent San Jose hi-tech employee and NCAA antitrust cases. The manager of one high profile fighter who wished to remain anonymous has informed Bloody Elbow that the plaintiffs will be seeking damages for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars due to reduced fight purses, video game rights fees, and other sources of income. The final amount could even be greater, with statutes awarding “treble damages” in antitrust cases.
Another manager referred to the pending suit as “a game changer.”
According to our sources the fighters are represented by three or four large firms renowned for antitrust litigation. The firms named to us have won major class action antitrust cases against bigger targets than the UFC, including against those in the banking, credit, technology and pharmaceutical industries.
As one well known former fighter told us “These are major players. These are not people [the UFC] will be able to out-spend.”
While we can not release names of the potential signatories at this time, the names that have been reported to us are notable fighters and personalities in the sport.
Oh boy, it looks like the Fertitta brothers may finally pay for all the contracts that have been often referred to as brutal. Guys like Wanderlei Silva might actually benefit given his recent bank-block by Zuffa, and there would be no surprise at all if it was discovered that “The Axe Murderer” was a part of this class action case.
The ramifications of such a lawsuit, should it be as well backed and serious as it sounds, could be absolutely ground shaking. Fighters unions, huge backdated settlements and a certain amount of egg on some big faces could all be resultant of this attack on the UFC.
Will this mark the end of the promotion’s domination of the market and death-grip on it’s athletes? After years, maybe even decades of fighters calling foul play on the UFC, it appears that a certain amount of comeuppance will be served in the near future. We’ll keep you updated as this interesting situation plays out.
