UFC settles antitrust lawsuit with fighters for $335 million

The parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship has agreed to a $335 million settlement with a group of mixed martial artists whose antitrust lawsuit accused the organization of abusing its market position to suppress fighter pay, the company, TKO, announced Group, announced on Wednesday.

The settlement avoids a costly trial that would begin in a month. For the UFC, it also eliminates the risk that a judge could impose remedies that would have upended the industry’s business model. In addition to monetary damages, the fighters had also sought changes such as a ban on long-term contracts, which would have given them more power and made it easier for potential challengers to the UFC.

Full details of the settlement, which requires court approval, have not yet been filed. TKO Group, which admitted no wrongdoing, said in a regulatory filing that she expected the settlement, agreed last week, to be tax deductible. The settlement also includes a similar 2021 lawsuit against the UFC

In a statement, a UFC spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to settle all claims,” adding that this would benefit “all parties.”

Eric Cramer, an attorney for the fighters, said the “plaintiffs are satisfied with the outcome and look forward to submitting the full settlement and all terms thereof to the court for approval in the coming weeks.”

If the UFC had lost the lawsuit, it is possible that it would have had to pay the fighters almost $5 billion. At a 2018 hearing, an expert for the plaintiffs said the fighters had been denied $1.6 billion in wages and damages had tripled in antitrust cases.

The class action lawsuit accused the UFC of abusing its authority as a monopsony — an exclusive purchaser of services, in this case mixed martial arts fighters — by locking its fighters into long-term contracts and giving them a smaller share of the revenue pay than other professional fighters. sports leagues pay their athletes.

Cung Le and a handful of other former UFC fighters filed the original lawsuit against the UFC’s then-parent company, Zuffa, in 2014. It and the five related lawsuits that followed were merged into one action in 2015. Endeavor bought Zuffa in 2016 and seven years later combined the UFC with another purchase, World Wrestling Entertainment, to form TKO.

Shares of TKO rose 7 percent after news of the settlement. Shares of Endeavor, which has a controlling stake in TKO, rose about 2 percent.

Kevin Draper reporting contributed.