$375 million UFC antitrust settlement gets final approval

A U.S. District Court judge has granted final approval to a settlement agreement between the UFC and a class of former fighters who filed a lawsuit against the promotion more than a decade ago.

On Thursday, Judge Richard Boulware of Nevada officially approved the proposed settlement agreement, which will result in the plaintiffs receiving $375 million.

News of the settlement approval was first reported by John Nash.

The approval comes 11 years after the antitrust lawsuit was first filed by a host of former fighters, including Cung Le and Nate Quarry. The fighters argued the UFC crafted monopsony power over the MMA fighter market through restrictive contracts, limiting competition and coercive conduct.

Fighters who competed in the UFC from 2010 to 2017 were included in this class, the Le class. A second antitrust lawsuit (Johnson vs. Zuffa, LLC), which includes fighters who competed after 2017, is still ongoing.

The initial settlement agreement figure reached in March was $335 million. While both the plaintiffs and defendants were on board with the figure, Boulware did not find the agreement to be fair and equitable given the initial filing claims. The figure was supposed to include both the Le and Johnson classes. The two parties elected to then remove Johnson from the settlement and increase the dollar figure by $40 million this proposed agreement, which was presented in September.

“I’m proud to have represented Cung (Le), Kyle (Kingsbury), Nate (Quarry), Javier (Vazquez), Jon (Fitch), Brandon (Vera) and all of the MMA fighters in the Le v Zuffa class,” Eric Cramer, the attorney for the fighters, wrote Thursday on X following the approval. “We achieved some measure of justice. And now we continue the battle in the Johnson case.”

In September, the UFC voiced pleasure with the agreed upon terms.

“We have reached a revised agreement with Plaintiffs to settle the Le case with terms that we believe address Judge Boulware’s stated concerns,” the promotion said in a written statement. “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.”

According to Nash’s reporting, UFC attorneys Thursday encouraged fighters to file for and collect their portion of the settlement agreement.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: $375 million UFC antitrust settlement gets final approval