There has been some significant movement in the class-action suit brought against the UFC.
In December 2014, a group of MMA fighters joined together to file a class-action lawsuit against the UFC and its parent company Zuffa LLC. These representatives, like Cung Le, Nate Quarry, Jon Fitch, and others, believe that the UFC used “improper strategies” to control the market for MMA fighter services.
Nearly a decade later, Judge Boulware certified the Le vs Zuffa (UFC) antitrust lawsuit as a class action, a ruling that the UFC appealed shortly after.
That appeal has since been denied setting the stage for a potential trial in 2024.
Judge Boulware also indicated that he wanted all records pertaining to the UFC antitrust lawsuit to be unsealed with very limited redactions for health and contact information. Per a report from Bloody Elbow, one of these unsealed documents, Roger D. Blair’s re-filed expert report, included payouts made to fighters between 2011 and 2016.
The “Internal Zuffa Bout Compensation” included the show and win bonuses along with performance bonuses disclosed to athletic commissions and the public. It also detailed non-disclosed payments like pay-per-view bonuses, side letters, and discretionary bonuses. Essentially, all the payments to a fighter related to their bout.
Though fighter names were not listed in the report, it was relatively easy for the outlet to determine who had received some of the top payouts of the year. For example, a total payment of $1,042,736 was made to professional wrestling star CM Punk for his appearance inside the Octagon in 2016.
Conor McGregor’s UFC Payouts
With the assistance of business expert John Nash, Bloody Elbow was able to surmise which payments went to Irish megastar Conor McGregor.
$2,642,204 (includes $2.11M discretionary bonus) vs. Chad Mendes
$4,476,662 or $4,536,932 vs. Jose Aldo — Aldo received $2,377,699
$5,576,315 vs. Nate Diaz 1 — Diaz received $2,838,158, and the PPV event generated $61 million.
$5,615,490 vs. Nate Diaz 2 — Diaz received $4,315,490.
$6,812,374 vs. Eddie Alvarez — the PPV event generated $66 million for UFC.
The lawsuit documents also included Professor Robert Topel’s expert report that cites payouts from McGregor during the class period: “Conor McGregor was compensated nearly $20 million for participation in nine UFC bouts of which he won eight.”
That would account for McGregor’s UFC payouts from his debut against Marcus Brimage to his rematch with Nate Diaz. The Irishman is the biggest draw in the promotion’s 30-year history, headlining eight of the UFC’s top-10 highest-grossing pay-per-views. Five of those events came within the period referenced above.
To read the full financial report including payouts for some of the promotion’s other top stars, including Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey, head over to Bloody Elbow’s Substack and subscribe.