The biggest legal battle in MMA history just got closer than ever to its finale.
Judge Richard F. Boulware granted preliminary approval on Tuesday for a settlement which aims to end a decade-long legal fight between the UFC and a class action group of fighters who competed in the promotion from late 2010 to mid-2017.
The settlement for the case – formally known as Cung Le et al. v. Zuffa – sees a total of $375 million before lawyer fees going to a class action group representing fighters who alleged the promotion used “improper strategies to dominate the market for MMA fighter services, allowing it to pay its MMA fighters less than half as much as they otherwise would have received.”
Judge Boulware’s formal approval of a settlement is a step the parties have been seeking for months and were scrambling to achieve ahead of a new February 2025 trial date. The Nevada-based judge’s skepticism around settlements for the case has proven to be a huge hurdle for the parties to clear up until recently.
Earlier this year, Judge Boulware refused to give approval for a $335 million settlement. The deal, which was notably $40 million less than the new agreement, aimed to settle Le et al. v. Zuffa along with another more recently filed class action antitrust case which covers fighters from 2017 and onward (Kajan Johnson et al. v. Zuffa). At the time, the Judge expressed concern regarding the significant contrast between the settlement figure and the $800 million to $1.6 billion in damages the Le class hoped to attain through trial.
After having their initial settlement shut down, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Eric Cramer, said that the “best path forward” was to focus on just one settlement per class action lawsuit instead of trying to merge two cases into one deal (No details have emerged on whether a settlement is in the process of being developed for the Johnson et al. v. Zuffa case). Focusing solely on the Le class, UFC sweetened their deal financially in hopes of putting the case to bed.
In an attempt to help push the deal past the finish line, more than 150 fighter depositions were filed along with the new settlement terms. Countless notable UFC figures spoke candidly about the long-term physical and mental struggles that a career in MMA has caused, and how money from the settlement would provide “life-changing” aid for everyday expenses.
Urgency was stressed in some depositions, with fighters noting that money from the settlement would allow fighters to receive financial help much sooner than the potential damages uncovered through a trial.
“These funds would also allow me to obtain the healthcare I need and keep a roof over my head and food on my table,” said UFC Hall of Famer Wanderlei Silva in his deposition. “The sad reality is that funds years from now may be of no use to me.”
The depositions were a “quite significant” factor in persuading Judge Boulware to approve the deal, per reporter Josh Gross.
Judge Boulware’s preliminary approval, while unprecedented, is not the end of the case. As Combat Sports Law writer Erik Magraken explained in a recent social media post: “Preliminary approval is just that: It’s preliminary.”
Fighters represented in the class action lawsuit will soon be contacted and given the chance to object to the settlement details. Any objections received by the court will be taken into consideration before Judge Boulware is given the chance to deliver a final approval, either confirming the settlement or sending both parties back into litigation.
If the deal gets approved, fighters will be able to receive their settlement money by June 2025, per reporter Gross.
While UFC still has the Johnson class action lawsuit to deal with, a possible end of the battle in court against the Le class would conclude litigation which the promotion has faced since late 2014.
Due to class action waivers implemented in current UFC talent contracts – which block a fighter from being involved in any class action lawsuits against the promotion in the future – the end of the Le et al. v. Zuffa would also be one of the last major legal opportunities for a fighter to challenge the top fight organization over alleged anti-competitive actions.
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