MMA fighter Davis leads antitrust suit vs. the UFC

Veteran mixed martial creator Phil Davis has filed different antitrust suit against the UFC.

The lawsuit, which was filed successful U.S. District Court of Nevada connected Thursday, alleges the UFC has created an unfair marketplace for fighters by limiting different promotions' quality to motion top-level talent.

The suit was filed by Berger Montague, the aforesaid steadfast that recently secured a $375 cardinal colony successful a people enactment suit against the UFC for fighters who competed from 2010 to 2017. That suit was filed successful 2014 and the parties settled successful February. The UFC is presently successful litigation connected aggregate different antitrust cases, involving fighters from antithetic periods of time.

The newest suit, which lists Zuffa LLC, TKO Group Holdings and Endeavor Group Holdings arsenic defendants, alleges that adjacent fighters who are not nether declaration with the UFC, endure from an inability to unafraid just wages due to the fact that of the UFC's unlawful efforts to destruct competition.

"The suit alleges the UFC impairs the quality of would-be UFC competitors to pull a captious wide of top-level MMA fighters indispensable to vie with the UFC astatine the apical tier of the sport," said plaintiff's lawyer Eric Cramer successful a statement. "We mean to beryllium that the UFC engaged successful a predatory strategy to undermine would beryllium competitors to the UFC, which the suit claims had the effect of maintaining and enhancing the UFC's dominance, and thereby impairing the careers and wage not conscionable of the UFC's ain fighters, but besides of nonrecreational MMA fighters similar Mr. Davis competing for MMA promotions crossed the MMA industry."

Among different aims, the suit seeks to alteration a combatant to terminate a promotional declaration without punishment aft 1 year. Historically, modular contracts dwell of a fig of MMA bouts to instrumentality spot implicit an unspecified magnitude of time.

In a prepared statement, Davis said, "I americium arrogant to basal up for nonrecreational MMA fighters to unlock the UFC's stranglehold connected the full sport." The UFC did not instantly respond to petition for comment.

Davis, 40, fought exclusively successful the UFC from 2010 to 2015. He signed with Bellator MMA successful 2015 and competed nether that banner up until this year, erstwhile the Bellator roster was folded into the PFL. The PFL purchased Bellator successful precocious 2023.