Many UFC fans and even fighters have criticized the promotion multiple times for underpayment issues. While top-tier fighters like Israel Adesanya and Conor McGregor earn enough from the promotion to showcase their wealth, many UFC fighters have voiced concerns about underpayment. Dana White and Co.’s decision to prohibit fighters from having individual sponsors has also sparked frustration among several athletes.

The departure of the noted former UFC Heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, from the promotion shed light on several other malpractices within it. A large chunk of fans are already aware of how the UFC authorities twisted Ngannou’s arm and made him wait long enough to run out of resources. They also asked for his last contracted bout himself, potentially giving them an advantage during negotiations and allowing them to secure a new contract on their terms. However, the UFC is currently standing at risk of huge financial losses due to such interior misconduct that could amount from $800M – $1.6B.

2014 lawsuit against UFC officially certified by US federal court

The movement started off in 2014 with a few noted former UFC fighters like Brandon Vera, Jon Fitch, Cung Le, and others going for the lawsuit. However, several recent reports revealed that currently, 1200 fighters have joined the act. The noted Canadian combat sports regulatory lawyer, Eric Magraken, also took to his Twitter account recently and revealed the entire scenario. First, he revealed, “a federal court in the US” has certified the lawsuit as a Class Act.

After labeling it as an “antitrust lawsuit”, Magraken mentioned, “A bunch of fighters sued the UFC [Zuffa] saying that they used illegal techniques to acquire dominance in the market and they abused that dominance in the market”. He also described that the promotion has used this dominance to “underpay fighters drastically over the years”.

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Magraken also mentioned how the court had actually found the “ruthless and coercive practices” that the UFC had been following. He further labeled the three observations that the court had made. They were:

• “The UFC has used oppressive contracts”
• “They use ruthless tactics outside of those oppressive contracts”
• “The UFC has bought up competition, not to necessarily make their product better. But to give the fighters fewer choices in the open market”.

He also stated that the combination of the first two points prevented UFC fighters “from really ever enjoying free agency”. Most UFC fans who know about the background story behind Francis Ngannou’s exit from the promotion may find a lot of similarities.

Could this lawsuit impact the UFC-WWE merger?

The noted wrestling and MMA reporter Dave Meltzer recently gave out his take on this issue in his appearance on ‘Wrestling Observer Radio’. He described how this lawsuit can take its toll on the new WWE-UFC merger that has happened under the parent company Endeavor. Meltzer revealed that Vince McMahon’s WWE also had a nearly similar lawsuit from MLW.

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He also revealed that the WWE might also have to bear the consequences of the UFC’s misconduct. He also predicted a second lawsuit for WWE, saying they might have a “second lawsuit because they’ve merged” with the UFC.

Given the shared affiliation of the UFC and WWE, it’s understandable that the WWE might have to consider paying the amount of $800 million to $1.6 billion. This is in response to the damages sought by the 1200 UFC fighter plaintiffs.

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