Veteran blended martial artist Phil Davis has filed one other antitrust lawsuit towards the UFC.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court docket of Nevada on Thursday, alleges the UFC has created an unfair market for fighters by limiting different promotions’ capability to signal top-level expertise.
The lawsuit was filed by Berger Montague, the identical agency that just lately secured a $375 million settlement in a category motion swimsuit towards the UFC for fighters who competed from 2010 to 2017. That swimsuit was filed in 2014 and the events settled in February. The UFC is presently in litigation on a number of different antitrust instances, involving fighters from completely different intervals of time.
The most recent swimsuit, which lists Zuffa LLC, TKO Group Holdings and Endeavor Group Holdings as defendants, alleges that even fighters who will not be below contract with the UFC, undergo from an incapability to safe truthful wages due to the UFC’s illegal efforts to remove competitors.
“The swimsuit alleges the UFC impairs the flexibility of would-be UFC opponents to draw a crucial mass of top-level MMA fighters essential to compete with the UFC on the prime tier of the game,” stated plaintiff’s lawyer Eric Cramer in a press release. “We intend to show that the UFC engaged in a predatory scheme to undermine could be opponents to the UFC, which the swimsuit claims had the impact of sustaining and enhancing the UFC’s dominance, and thereby impairing the careers and pay not simply of the UFC’s personal fighters, but additionally {of professional} MMA fighters like Mr. Davis competing for MMA promotions throughout the MMA business.”
Amongst different goals, the lawsuit seeks to allow a fighter to terminate a promotional contract with out penalty after one yr. Traditionally, customary contracts include quite a few MMA bouts to happen over an unspecified period of time.
In a ready assertion, Davis stated, “I’m proud to face up for skilled MMA fighters to unlock the UFC’s stranglehold on all the sport.” The UFC didn’t instantly reply to request for remark.
Davis, 40, fought completely within the UFC from 2010 to 2015. He signed with Bellator MMA in 2015 and competed below that banner up till this yr, when the Bellator roster was folded into the PFL. The PFL bought Bellator in late 2023.