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A federal judge granted preliminary approval of the longest-running UFC fighter pay lawsuit Tuesday, more than two months after the same judge blocked the original deal.
UFC and a group of around 1,100 former fighters agreed to a reworked $375 million settlement last month after U.S. District Court Judge Richard Boulware took the unusual move to halt an original deal—which covered two fighter pay lawsuits—at the preliminary stage over the amount of compensation.
If the process moves forward without any significant snags, the average payout for the fighters covered by the settlement would be around $250,000 and payments could start to be distributed by the middle of next year.
“It is a monumental achievement that will get significant relief to hundreds of deserving MMA fighters,” lead plaintiff attorney Eric Cramer said in a statement. “We honor our brave representative plaintiffs who fought for this result for ten years.”
The case, known as Le v. Zuffa (the former parent entity of UFC), was originally filed in December 2014 with former UFC fighter Cung Le among the lead plaintiffs. The class covers fighters who fought for UFC from December 2010 through June 2017.
“Today’s decision is welcome news for both parties,” UFC said in a statement. “We are pleased to be another step closer to bringing the Le case to a close.”
In March, UFC had agreed to settle both Le v. Zuffa and a newer lawsuit that had retired UFC fighter Kajan Johnson as one of the lead plaintiffs for $335 million. The class members of that lawsuit covers around 1,200 fighters who competed in UFC from July 2017 onward and is not part of the reworked settlement. Johnson v. Zuffa will proceed with discovery toward a potential trial.
“We look forward to pursuing significant business changes and more damages in our second antitrust case against the UFC,” Cramer said.
Once Boulware officially enters his preliminary approval of the Le v. Zuffa settlement, the process—which includes determining legal fees and allowing class members to object to the deal—begins. It’s expected to take about three months before Boulware would rule on a final settlement and money could begin to flow to class members after an allocation process that could take approximately 90 days.
Endeavor purchased UFC in 2018 and later merged UFC with WWE to create TKO Group.
