TKO to Pay $335 Million to Settle UFC Athlete Class-Action Lawsuits
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC, disclosed that it will pay $335 million to settle two class-action lawsuits filed by former UFC fighters alleging the MMA promoter violated antitrust laws.
Zuffa, the predecessor entity that owned and operated UFC, was the defendant in five related class-action lawsuits filed between December 2014 and March 2015, which were consolidated into a single action in June 2015 (Le et al.
v. Zuffa). An additional lawsuit, Johnson et al. v. Zuffa, was filed in 2021. On March 13, 2024, TKO reached an agreement to settle all claims asserted in both class action lawsuits for a total of $335 million payable in installments over a period of time, the company disclosed in an SEC filing Wednesday. “The terms will be memorialized in a long-form agreement and then submitted to the court for approval,” TKO said, adding that it anticipates the settlement amount will be deductible for tax purposes.
The lawsuits alleged Zuffa violated antitrust laws by paying UFC fighters far less than they were entitled to receive and eliminating or hurting other MMA promoters.
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