UFC announces revised financial settlement in Cung Le antitrust lawsuit

UFC will once again try to settle a long-running class action lawsuit initially filed by Cung Le and others more than a decade ago, announcing a revised financial settlement number on Thursday.

The revised number is $375 million, an 11% increase from the initial $335 million settlement announced on March 20th that was denied by judge Richard Boulware in late-July.

In a press release, UFC stated they believe the new terms will address Boulware’s concerns the first time around, mainly assumed to be that the financial number was 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,” it stated.

Despite the settlement number in the Le case being considerably lower than the initial $1.6 billion in damages sought, both sides would like to close the books on the case without going to trial where the plaintiffs and their lawyer could get nothing if they lose while UFC (owned by TKO) risks losing much more in treble damages that allows the court to award a plaintiff three times the amount initially sought.

Additionally, a win in a trial by the plaintiffs would require a unanimous jury verdict and likely a lengthy appeals process which would further delay any money being paid out.

As of now, there’s a trial date on the docket for February 3, 2025, leaving the judge until then to either accept or deny this settlement.

This potential settlement applies to just the Le case, originally filed in 2014. The antitrust suit included as many as 1200 fighters that competed in the UFC at least once between December 16, 2010, through June 30, 2017, that didn’t choose to opt out of the suit. They collectively sued the UFC for lost wages and back pay, claiming the UFC signed them into long-term agreements and then bought up all of their competition, stifling the market.

Another antitrust case headed up by former fighter Kajan Johnson is still ongoing. The Johnson case is similar in nature to the Le case, but covers a different time frame after fighters had signed waivers against being part of a class action lawsuit. The Johnson case is also looking for injunctive relief in addition to damages which would change how future contracts could be written while the Le case is seeking just damages.

UFC mentioned the case in their release, stating “that process is in very early stages, and a motion to dismiss the complaint remains pending.”