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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) underpays UFC fighters, eliminates competition, and engages in a number of anticompetitive practices, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit was filed in Nevada on June 24 by lead Plaintiffs Kajan Johnson and C.B. Dollaway, two long-time veterans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The pair allege that Zuffa, LLC (doing business as Ultimate Fighting Championship and UFC) and its parent company, Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., violate antitrust laws by paying UFC fighters far less than they are entitled to and eliminating or hurting other MMA promoters.
According to the class action lawsuit, Zuffa and Endeavor locked fighters into long-term, exclusive contracts which, the fighters say, prevent them from competing elsewhere. It also alleges that Zuffa and Endeavor use market dominance to coerce fighters to re-sign contracts, effectively making the contracts perpetual and preventing fighters from reaching free agency, and they acquire and then close down other MMA promoters that threaten the UFC’s dominance.
Johnson said that like other UFC fighters who had also filed class action lawsuits against the Zuffa and Endeavor, including Carlos Newton, Cung Le, Nathan Quarry, and Jon Fitch, he was bringing the lawsuit for himself and all those who were afraid to speak out “against the injustice we have endured.”
“I feel obligated to do my part to leave the sport better off for my students and all future mixed martial artists to come,” he said.
Dollaway added: “We train hard and risk our bodies to succeed in this sport. Every time we step into that octagon, we leave a piece of ourselves behind. The UFC should have to pay us competitive compensation for our services, just like professional athletes in other sports get paid based on competitive markets.”
According to the class action lawsuit, Zuffa prevents potential competitors from accessing the top fighters necessary to compete with the UFC by locking fighters into contracts and buying out the biggest rivals — rendering other promotions to the “minor leagues.”
Johnson and Dollaway allege that by acquiring all potential competitors and signing virtually all top fighters to long-term exclusive contracts, Zuffa left the top fighters and aspiring top fighters with nowhere else to go to compete at the top level of the sport.
Due to the lack of competition Zuffa pays UFC fighters a significantly lower share of revenues than they could get if they had more options, the claim alleges.
Johnson and Dollaway want to represent anyone who fought in a match promoted by the UFC on or after July 1, 2017.
Johnson and Dollaway’s class action lawsuit isn’t the only one the UFC is facing. Fighters Cung Le, Nathan Quarry, Jon Fitch, Brandon Vera, Luis Javier Vazquez, and Kyle Kingsbury filed a class action lawsuit alleging similar antitrust violations, which is currently pending in federal district court in Nevada.
Are you a UFC fan? Let us know your thoughts on the class action lawsuits Zuffa and Endeavor are facing in the comments section!
Johnson and Dollaway are represented by Berger Montague PC, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, The Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc., Kemp Jones LLP, and Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC.
The UFC Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit is Kajan Johnson, et al. v. Zuffa, LLC, et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-01189 in the U.S. District Court in Nevada.
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