A US district judge in Las Vegas has granted preliminary approval for a $375 million settlement to conclude the first of two antitrust lawsuits against the UFC mixed martial arts promotion.
Last month, UFC's parent company TKO Group and the plaintiffs in the Le vs Zuffa case agreed to settle a class action lawsuit. Judge Richard Boulware finally approved the terms of the agreement on Tuesday (October 22) to bring an end to a 10-year litigation.
This came after Boulware had denied an initial settlement fee agreed upon between the promotion and plaintiffs earlier this year for around $335 million which he deemed too low as it combined two different lawsuits.
At the time, the Nevada judge had set a preliminary court date of October 28 for the case to go to trial.
A new settlement fee totaling $375 million was eventually agreed upon with the plaintiffs in the Le case (for fighter Cung Le), while the second lawsuit (for fighter Kajan Johnson) remains in court.
UFC said in a statement: “The decision is welcome news for both parties. We are pleased to be another step closer to bringing the Le case to a close.”
Eric Cramer, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told MMA Fighting meanwhile: “It is a monumental achievement that will get significant relief to hundreds of deserving MMA fighters.
“We honor our brave representative plaintiffs who fought for this result for ten years. And we look forward to pursuing significant business changes and more damages in our second antitrust case against the UFC.”
If the antitrust trial had gone ahead, UFC could have been liable for up to $1.6 billion in damages if found guilty.
The pair of antitrust lawsuits alleged that UFC had paid fighters significantly less than they were entitled to receive and maintained a monopoly over the MMA market.
The two cases combined represented around 2,000 fighters.
The lawsuit filed by Le in 2014 covered fighters competing in the UFC from 2010 to 2017, while the Johnson case covers fighters up to the present day and seeks permanent changes to UFC contractual and business practices.
TKO was formed out of the merger between UFC and the WWE promotion last year, led by international entertainment and sports giant Endeavor.
In another antitrust lawsuit, WWE in December 2023 settled a lawsuit brought by a rival accusing it of monopolizing the professional wrestling media market. It disclosed in a February securities filing that it paid $20 million to resolve the suit.
