15-Year-Old Allegations by Dana White’s Ex-Fighter Resurfaces After Documents Reveal UFC’s “Promotional Rights” for Athletes

Dana White seems to be facing renewed scrutiny as the UFC anti-trust lawsuit reignites concerns about the organization’s past practices. The UFC has faced longstanding allegations of having contracts that exploit fighters, paying them below fair wages, and participating in monopolistic behaviors. Notably, it acquired major competition back then and targeted its fighters to fight under its banner, and with the newer revelations things are starting to get clear.

In 2014, a prominent antitrust lawsuit was initiated against the premier MMA promotion globally, and recent developments indicate that the court’s approval of class certification earlier this year may lead to a substantial multi-billion-dollar settlement. Should an agreement not be reached with the claimants, it appears probable that the promotion will proceed to trial next year.

Fighters required to sign controversial documents to compete

The UFC anti-trust lawsuit was filed by former old-time fighters against the UFC. The names include Cung Le, Nathan Quarry, Jon Fitch, Brandon Vera, Luis Javier Vazquez, and Kyle Kingsbury. There have been many revelations about the UFC which was previously unknown and as the days go by the worries for Dana White are also growing.

A recent document has come forward which states that the fighters had to sign a controversial promotional rights agreement to compete under the UFC’s banner. The provision of the agreement includes that the entity can use its name, image, quotes, etc for the promotion and branding of the UFC and the fighters have to maintain silence about it.

Additional revelations ͏indicate that Jon Fitch, a prominent member of th͏e ͏anti-trust ͏lawsuit, declined to sign the documents citing a conflict of interest. Nevertheless, the UFC issued a threat to release͏ every member from ͏the American Kickboxin͏g Academy who dared to compete under the UFC’s banner. “I was going to leave. Strikeforce was around at the time and local to me. I was fine with being done with the UFC and their garbage. But when I didn’t immediately come back and sign with them, they started publicly threatening to fire all of my teammates,” said Fitch.

Fitch further claimed that UFC threatened him to cut Cain Velasquez and Josh Koscheck. Fitch had to sign the documents so as not to ruin the careers of these fighters which also included Luke Rockhold as well as Daniel Cormier. So what exactly are the lawsuits all about? Let us understand.

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All about the anti-trust lawsuit against the UFC

The lawsuit was filed by former UFC fighters as described earlier. As per the fighters, UFC has been using its dominant position in the market to acquire minor and major leagues to monopolize the market and the promotion has been doing this for a long time now. They also state that this is one of the reasons why UFC pays so less to the fighters.

The suit is filed by a small number of individuals but more than a thousand fighters have agreed to support the cause. Most of these fighters claim that the unfair practice of UFC has degraded the value of MMA. The individuals involved are pursuing compensation from the UFC to bridge the gap between their earnings from the organization and what they might have garnered in a competitive market. The promotion led by Dana White is alleged to be employing legal maneuvers to prolong the lawsuit, facing accusations of employing delay tactics.

With new information coming out of the lawsuit, we get the clarity of what’s happening behind the media hubbub of the UFC. What’s your opinion on the current situation of the UFC?

Read More: UFC’s Appeal Gets Denied In Latest Anti-Trust Lawsuit As Dana White’s Team Handed Rejection To Reopen Discovery By Judge Boulware