The long-running antitrust case between the UFC, a group of plaintiffs headed by former fighter Cung le, and a group led by Cung Le seems to have finally reached its conclusion…again.
On Tuesday, Nevada federal Judge Richard Boulware granted his preliminary approval to a $375 Million settlement between the two sides. This is a lifeline for hundreds of former UFC Fighters who are desperately in need of cash. After formal approval, the UFC will deposit the money in an escrow fund and the Le legal team will then disburse any remaining funds once they have recovered their fees.
These fees, estimated at $115 million, can’t exceed 33% of the total award. According to John Nash, “the team will have to show their time and expenses to the judge who identifies the lodestar figure in order to determine if attorneys fees are justifiable.” Boulware or the fighters can challenge the amount.
Boulware rejected an initial settlement of $335,000,000 in March. This led both sides to negotiate a new agreement, which was submitted late September. Boulware said the declarations/statements garnered from fighters wanting a deal to be signed played a “quite significant” role in his decision.
The Le side has submitted the following information on the amount of money that fighters can expect to receive from the new settlement terms:
“Under the Settlement Le Class members would recover (on an average), after all fees are deducted, $250,000.” 35 Class members would receive over $1 million, nearly 100 fighters over $500,000, more than 200 fighters over $250,000, over 500 fighters over $100,000 and nearly 800 fighters over $50,000. If approved, the Settlement would, by any reasonable measure, put “life-changing” cash in the hands of hundreds of fighters’ families.
Le lawsuit included up to 1200 fighters who competed at least once in the UFC between December 16, 2010 and June 30, 2017. They didn’t opt out. They collectively sued UFC for lost wages, back pay and claiming that the UFC had signed them up to long-term contracts and then bought out all their competition, stifling market.
The case is one of two, with the remaining Kajan-Johnson vs. UFC antitrust matter still to be decided.
The Johnson case has a similar nature to the Le lawsuit, but it covers a different period of time after fighters signed waivers that they would not be part of a collective action lawsuit. The Johnson case seeks injunctive relief, in addition to damages, which would change the way future contracts are written.
The fighters will be paid in June 2020 after the final payment of three payments made by UFC/TKO to an escrow account.
Judge gives preliminary approval to $375 million settlement of UFC/Cung Le antitrust case in todays Wrestling news, Chatalong Chatbox, Results will be Hidden inside a spoiler Button so you will not bet spoiled about direct results.
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