In a stunning twist, a federal judge has rejected a $335 million settlement between Ultimate Fighting Championship and more than 1,200 fighters suing for wage suppression.
“It is hereby ordered that the motion for preliminary approval” of the deal is “denied,” wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware in a court note issued on Tuesday evening of the deal struck by TKO Group — born out of the marriage between UFC and WWE. “A separate written order elaborating the Court’s order and reasoning will issue.”
With the denial, the judge set a trial to start on Oct. 28. The two sides could potentially negotiate a new settlement to address concerns from the judge, who has said that payment may be too low, among other things. If UFC lost, it stood to lose more than $4 billion since damages in antitrust cases can be trebled.
Before the agreement was struck in March, a trial expected to last four weeks was scheduled to start on April 15, with damages pegged at roughly $1.6 billion. At the center of the case was allegations that UFC used longterm, exclusive contracts to substantially delay, or in some cases, totally prevent free-agency; coerced fighters into re-signing deals; and acquired or closed down multiple competing MMA promoters in violation of antitrust laws.
As a result of the alleged scheme, the class action argued UFC wields “monopsony power” — a dynamic in which a single buyer owns a monopoly, allowing it to purchase labor under market value. A pivotal ruling in favor of fighters came down last year when the court certified a class of 1,214 fighters who competed in bouts from 2010 to 2017, though a separate class of plaintiffs whose identities were allegedly exploited by the Dana White-led outfit weren’t allowed to proceed.
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