The UFC has been given final approval by Judge Richard Boulware to begin a total payout of $375m to relevant fighters over an antitrust lawsuit that was filed back in 2014.
Judge Boulware gave the final approval yesterday (6 February) and will see fighters formerly working for the UFC compensation over claims the mixed martial arts promotion was enacting “a scheme to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the market”.
The $375m figure is higher than the initially agreed settlement of $335m in March 2024. Despite this, Boulware denied the settlement after deeming the sum too low after he deemed that fighters in separate lawsuits against the UFC would object.
There is a second antitrust lawsuit filed against the UFC, Johnson vs. Zuffa LLC., that includes fighters who competed for the company from 2017 to present day.
The Johnson vs. Zuffa case was supposed to be included in the $335m settlement agreement in March 2024, however, Boulware found that the figure was not fair or equitable.
Both parties agreed to remove the Johnson vs. Zuffa case from the first antitrust lawsuit which was then repurposed to offer a $40m increase to $375m to fighters who competed from 2010 to 2017, with an agreement reached in October 2024.
Upon hearing the news of the payout of the $375m settlement, former UFC Lightweight World Champion Eddie Alvarez expressed his delight.
He stated via his X account: “Wow … settlement agreement in UFC antitrust lawsuit has officially been completed. ($)375m awarded to the fighters today. Personally I think it should be closer to the billion but salute to the fighters and Attorneys that fought a decade long war.”
Antitrust settlement a win for fighters or UFC?
Alvarez was one of many fighters being paid out over the antitrust case, which has been over a decade in the waiting.
When the lawsuit was first filed in 2014, which was led by former UFC fighters Cung Le, Nate Quarry and others, the primary indictment was over fighter pay due to the UFC’s large market share.
The lawsuit accused the UFC of running monopoly-like tactics to enable its standing in the market, particularly due to acquisitions of competition such as World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) in 2010 and Strikeforce in early 2011.
Both WEC and Strikeforce merged with the UFC, meaning both its full roster of fighters’ contracts were under the UFC. As time passed, more and more fighters expressed concerns over being underpaid by the UFC, including some of the promotion’s greatest fighters such as Georges St-Pierre.
This has led to continued talks over creating a union for fighters in the US to protect their claims against the UFC, with St-Pierre being joined by several other high-profile fighters to establish a fighter’s association in late 2016. However, this has not led to long-lasting support, despite St-Pierre’s continued advocacy.
Despite the $375m settlement compensating relevant fighters from 2010 to 2017, it appears that a fighter’s union was not ordered by any judges orders. However, this may spur on fighters to organise an association in the long-term.
The Johnson vs. Zuffa lawsuit is currently still being processed and reviewed by the courts with a potential trial impending.
