The fighters involved in the first UFC antitrust lawsuit should start receiving money soon after the judge overseeing the case officially signed off on payments from the $375 million settlement.
Judge Richard Boulware officially signed off on the order on Oct. 3 with fighters expected to start receiving payments as early as this week.
The settlement comes from the original antitrust lawsuit filed by fighters such as Cung Le and Nathan Quarry against the UFC all the way back in 2014. As the case headed towards a potential trial, the fighters and the UFC ultimately reached an settlement agreement for $375 million.
Judge Boulware eventually approved the settlement and now has ordered “final approval of the settlement (“Final Approval Order”) resolving all claims against the defendant in exchange for $375 million (which amount constitutes the Le v. Zuffa Settlement Fund).”
Fighters involved in the settlement, which covered athletes who competed in the UFC between 2010 and 2017, had to submit claims. Berger Montague—the law firm representing the fighters in this antitrust lawsuit—revealed that over 97 percent of the approximately 1,100 fighters covered in the suit submitted claims.
The judge in the case did allow one fighter to receive settlement funds despite submitting a claim past the deadline.
Fighters receiving funds from the settlement agreement have 90 days to cash those checks or the checks are voided.
Attorneys in the case were also granted additional funds from the settlement to cover estimated future expenses, unforeseen expenses that could arise as well as funds for taxes.
Based on the original settlement agreement and the number of fighters submitting claims, attorneys estimated that the average payout equaled $250,000 with 35 fighters expected to receive over $1 million and nearly 100 fighters getting over $500,000.
While this settlement takes care of the fighters who competed in the UFC between 2010 and 2017, another antitrust lawsuit led by athletes such as Kajan Johnson covers athletes from 2017 to the present. That lawsuit is seeking both damages and injunctive relief to potentially change the UFC’s business practices.
Additional antitrust lawsuits have been filed more recently headed up by fighters Misha Cirkunov and Phil Davis, respectively, are looking to represent fighters who signed contracts featuring arbitration clauses and class action waivers with the second lawsuit focused on numerous changes to current UFC contracts and how the company does business. That second lawsuit filed by Davis seeks only injunctive relief, not monetary damage.
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