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Ready for a bombshell? According to Bloody Elbow, current and former UFC fighters are about to file a class action lawsuit against the UFC.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
The story was confirmed by Bloody Elbow’s John Nash and Brent Brookhouse.
Here are the details, courtesy of Bloody Elbow:
We have been able to confirm that the suit will be based on accusations that the UFC has violated antitrust laws by abusing their “market power” to intentionally and systematically cripple the free market. Several of the individuals we spoke to compared it to the recent San Jose hi-tech employee and NCAA antitrust cases. The manager of one high profile fighter who wished to remain anonymous has informed Bloody Elbow that the plaintiffs will be seeking damages for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars due to reduced fight purses, video game rights fees, and other sources of income. The final amount could even be greater, with statutes awarding “treble damages” in antitrust cases.
Another manager referred to the pending suit as “a game changer.”
According to our sources the fighters are represented by three or four large firms renowned for antitrust litigation. The firms named to us have won major class action antitrust cases against bigger targets than the UFC, including against those in the banking, credit, technology and pharmaceutical industries.
Bloody Elbow didn’t release who was involved in the lawsuit, but did say they were “notable fighters and personalities in the sport.” Furthermore, they also stated the UFC’s Reebok deal was tied into the suit in some way.
For legal reasons, we won’t even begin to speculate which fighters and personalities could possibly be involved.
This is the biggest news to hit MMA since the Fox deal. Perhaps it’s even bigger than that. “Game changer” is a cliche. It’s also an understatement. This is more than a game changer. This could be everything.
More on the story as we get it.