US: Fighters want UFC’s $4 billion sale to go to settle antitrust suit

When it comes to divvying up profits from their sport, some mixed martial arts fighters say they’re getting clobbered. But now, several fighters suing for a bigger share of the purse say the $4 billion sale of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the sport’s premier promoter, may give them some punch.

A pair of retired fighters and one now affiliated with a rival league accuse the promoter, known as UFC, of swallowing up competitors to monopolize the sport and suppress compensation for athletes, who receive a smaller chunk of revenues than competitors in other professional sports. They seek class-action status to represent potentially thousands of fighters and to boost any award they win in court, which would be tripled under U.S. antitrust law.

“They made a lot of money off the broken bodies of a lot of people,” said Jon Fitch, a plaintiff and one-time contender for UFC’s welterweight championship, in a phone interview. “It’s pretty obvious that it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to deny the unfavorable pay and treatment we’ve received.”

Fitch, who went 13-3-1 during eight years with the league, said UFC’s robust growth will help the fighters prove they’ve been shortchanged by Zuffa LLC, Las Vegas-based owner of UFC that’s been controlled by billionaire brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III for the last 15 years. The Fertittas purchased UFC in 2001 for $2 million.

Buoyed by celebrity fighters such as Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor, UFC now stages sold-out events in arenas around the world and reaches a pay-per-view audience that rivals that of boxing’s biggest fights. UFC controls about 90 percent of the revenue from professional mixed martial arts bouts, while holding fighters’ share of that pot below 20 percent, according to the complaint. Contracts require them to sign away marketing and image rights, Fitch said.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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