The presiding judge rejected an initial settlement agreement between UFC and plaintiffs in the decade-long class-action lawsuit. Now, the case will go to trial.
The news was first reported late Tuesday night from Las Vegas. Judge Richard Boulware denied the $335 million settlement reached on March 20th. He set a trial date for October 28th in the Cung Le vs. Zuffa case. Kajan Johnson vs. Zuffa will proceed separately.
The 19th of August is the date for a status conference between Le vs. Zuffa. The initial trial date could be pushed back based on the reasons given.
Erik Magraken, MMA legal expert, says that Boulware is rejecting the Johnson case because he feels the settlement dollars should have been higher and he wants “major contract changes” in Johnson’s case.
In a statement sent to POST Wrestling by plaintiff attorney Eric Cramer, he stated that “Plaintiffs will respect the Court’s decision rejecting the proposed resolution of the Le Johnson cases and accordingly, we will be moving full speed forward on all fronts, as directed by the Court…We also are open to reengaging the UFC to determine whether the parties can reach a settlement based off the momentum gained in the previous settlement.”
TKO’s statement was released later via a SEC filing. They said they were evaluating all options, including further settlement talks with plaintiffs.
After the settlement was reached there were questions as to why the financial figure was lower than expected, given that $1.6 billion was the amount originally requested by plaintiffs such as Le, Nate Quarry Brandon Vera Kyle Kingsbury and Jon Fitch.
Experts have reported that both sides want to avoid a court trial.
A loss for the plaintiffs would mean that both the fighters and the legal team would receive nothing in return for their decade-long work. The UFC, now owned by TKO, could be at risk of a larger financial payout in the event of a loss. This could have a negative impact on their stock price.
A unanimous jury verdict would be required to win a trial. There would also likely be a lengthy appeals procedure, which would delay the payment of any money.
Le filed the original antitrust suit in 2014. It 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 of the suit. They collectively sued UFC for lost wages, back pay and claiming that the UFC had signed them to long-term contracts and then bought out all of their competitors, stifling market.
The Johnson case has a similar nature, but it covers a different period of time: after fighters signed waivers to avoid being included in a class-action lawsuit. The Johnson case also seeks injunctive relief, in addition to damages. This would change the way future contracts are written. The Le case seeks only damages.
UFC antitrust lawsuit gets trial date after judge denies initial settlement agreement 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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