UFC CEO Dana White has been ordered to testify in the latest antitrust lawsuit filed against the promotion, with former light heavyweight contender Misha Cirkunov leading the charge.
Judge Richard Boulware issued the order during a status conference held on Dec. 18, with a spoliation hearing set for Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, and White set to testify first, followed by Tracy Long, the UFC’s vice president of athlete compliance and regulatory affairs.
An additional hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6 to discuss “outstanding discovery disputes, and the scope of this Court’s spoliation proceedings.” Spoilation refers to the “destruction, alteration, or loss of evidence that is relevant to a legal matter.”
The judge also ordered that both the plaintiff and defendant “file a Joint Status Report, no more than 4 pages per side, listing outstanding discovery issues to be addressed at this hearing by December 30, 2025.”
The lawsuit led by Cirkunov addressed the fighters who signed contracts with the UFC that included a clause regarding rules on arbitration or a class action waiver.
There were originally two antitrust lawsuits filed against the UFC—one led by fighters such as Cung Le that covered fighters from 2010 through 2017, and the second lawsuit filed by fighters such as Kajan Johnson that covered athletes from 2017 to the present. The first antitrust lawsuit that was initially filed all the way back in 2014 was settled with the UFC agreeing to a $375 million settlement.
The second lawsuit is still winding its way through the courts, but the UFC recently filed a motion to deny class certification or strike class allegations “on the ground that some class members had signed contracts with Zuffa that contained arbitration clauses and/or class-action waivers.”
The latest antitrust lawsuit led by Cirkunov and other fighters attempts to remedy that issue by specifically representing the athletes who signed contracts that contained the clause regarding arbitration or class action waivers and prevent further delays in the original lawsuit filed by Johnson and other athletes who competed in the UFC.
“Although Plaintiff disagrees with Defendants’ position, in order to (a) avoid unnecessary delay in Johnson, (b) ensure that the invalidity and unenforceability of UFC Fighters’ arbitration agreements and class action waivers may be adjudicated, Misha Cirkunov brings this case on behalf of those UFC Fighters, like himself, who fought in a bout promoted by the UFC from July 1, 2017 until the illicit scheme alleged herein ceases, and who signed a contract with Zuffa LLC that contained a clause purporting to require disputes between the fighter and Zuffa (and/or its parent companies or affiliates) to be submitted to individual arbitration (an “Arbitration Clause”) and/or a clause purporting to waive any right to participate in a class action”.
The Cirkunov lawsuit seeks damages as well as an order invalidating the arbitration or class action waiver clause in existing UFC contracts, as well as eliminating those clauses in future deals.
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