UFC Owner to Pay $375M to Settle Lawsuit Over Wage Suppression

Ultimate Fighting Championship and former fighters suing for wage suppression have reached a new deal to settle a class action accusing the MMA promoter of violating antitrust laws.

TKO Group — born out of the merger between UFC and WWE — will pay $375 million to resolve the lawsuit, according to a Thursday securities filing. The agreement was reached after their last deal was nixed by the court, which said that the payment may be too low.

“While we believe the original settlement was fair — a sentiment that was also shared by Plaintiffs — we feel it is in the best interest of all parties to bring this litigation to a close,” a spokesperson for UFC said in a statement.

That deal figured to settle two separate class actions for $335 million. The new agreement brings to a close one of the cases, with UFC moving to dismiss the other. Both sides will look for approval of the settlement from U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware. UFC, which stood to lose more than $4 billion since damages in antitrust cases can be trebled, said that it believes the revised terms will “address [his] stated concerns.”

A trial expected to last four weeks was scheduled to start in February, with damages pegged at roughly $1.6 billion. At the center of the case were allegations that UFC used long-term, exclusive contracts to substantially delay, or in some cases, totally prevent free-agency; coerced fighters into re-signing deals; and acquired or closed down multiple competing MMA promoters in violation of antitrust laws.

As a result of the alleged scheme, the class action argued UFC wields “monopsony power” — a dynamic in which a single buyer owns a monopoly, allowing it to purchase labor under market value. A pivotal ruling in favor of fighters came down last year, when the court certified a class of 1,214 fighters who competed in bouts from 2010 to 2017, though a separate class of plaintiffs whose identities were allegedly exploited by the Dana White-led outfit weren’t allowed to proceed.