LAS VEGAS (CN) — The UFC and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, reached a $335 million settlement Wednesday in two antitrust lawsuits just ahead of an April trial.
The case turned this past week when TKO Group Holdings informed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it had decided to pay the plaintiffs — a group of approximately 1,200 former fighters — over claims that the company engaged in anticompetitive behavior.
“On March 13, 2024, TKO reached an agreement to settle all claims asserted in both class action lawsuits (Le and Johnson) for an aggregate amount of $335 million payable by the company and its subsidiaries in installments over an agreed-upon period of time,” TKO said in the filing.
The agreement still requires court approval.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement to settle all claims asserted in both the Le and Johnson class action lawsuits, bringing litigation to a close and benefiting all parties,” the UFC said in a statement. “The final terms of the settlement will be submitted to the court for approval.”
Sports analysts had previously estimated the damages at anywhere between $894 million to $1.6 billion, highlighting the significant impact of the lawsuit. The fighters accused the UFC of employing market control tactics such as exclusive contracts and acquisitions, which they claimed limited their earnings and career opportunities.
Central to the controversy were the UFC's strategies to maintain its dominance over the professional MMA market, sparking a debate about its competitive practices.
“The fighters also claim that the UFC violated the antitrust laws to the detriment of all MMA fighters,” according to the class website ufcclassaction.com. “These class representatives filed the lawsuit not only for themselves but also seek to represent about 1,200 other current and former UFC fighters. One of their goals is to recover money for all 1,200 fighters. Another goal is to force the UFC to change the way it does business.”
The settlement comes after U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware postponed the trial set for April 15.
With the settlement now public, the next step is court approval — effectively closing a lengthy legal chapter and offering relief to the involved parties. The Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, through a statement by attorney Rob Maysey, expressed a sentiment of solidarity and justice among the fighters, hinting at future changes in the industry's contractual and competitive norms.
“We are pleased with the settlement and will disclose more when we file with the Court in 45-60 days. We Love All of these guys!” the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association posted on social media.
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