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…
(Photo via Getty)
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.
The UFC’s ongoing war against dirty, no-good, PPV-stealing scoundrels wages on, Nation. Following a promise by Zuffa Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Kirk Hendrick to “pursue the people who don’t want to pay for the goods and services they receive” earlier this year, the UFC has taken action against it’s first major target. His name is Steven A. Messina, a 27-year-old man who lives with his mom and dad in Great Kills, NY, and the UFC’s lawsuit against him is seeking a cool…32 MILLION DOLLARS. (My reaction)
While that figure is absolutely batsh*t bonkers crazypants, just wait until you hear how Messina got caught (via the NY Times):
UFC officials took note of Messina after he became increasingly cocky about his growing online status and referred to himself as the “Provider of Best MMA & Boxing rips online!,” the suit states.
He asked viewers to “Help Me Cap PPV!” through his PayPal account, called “MMA Capping Fund!,” according to the court papers, which allege he was trying to become the king of PPV pirates online.
The UFC’s ongoing war against dirty, no-good, PPV-stealing scoundrels wages on, Nation. Following a promise by Zuffa Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Kirk Hendrick to “pursue the people who don’t want to pay for the goods and services they receive” earlier this year, the UFC has taken action against it’s first major target. His name is Steven A. Messina, a 27-year-old man who lives with his mom and dad in Great Kills, NY, and the UFC’s lawsuit against him is seeking a cool…32 MILLION DOLLARS. (My reaction)
While that figure is absolutely batsh*t bonkers crazypants, just wait until you hear how Messina got caught (via the NY Times):
UFC officials took note of Messina after he became increasingly cocky about his growing online status and referred to himself as the “Provider of Best MMA & Boxing rips online!,” the suit states.
He asked viewers to “Help Me Cap PPV!” through his PayPal account, called “MMA Capping Fund!,” according to the court papers, which allege he was trying to become the king of PPV pirates online.
He and his cohorts “are intent on becoming the most well known pirates and infringers on the internet by making their mark on the major torrent websites available on the internet,” the suit states.
In total, Messina uploaded 141 UFC pay-per-views through various pirating sites, and at around $320,000 a pop ($150,000 for each act of infringement, up to $110,000 for each illegal use of UFC content, up to $60,000 for intercepting UFC content), it looks like someone is about to be passed around the federal penitentiary ’till a brother can’t tell his fart from a yawn, if you know what I’m saying. But hey, at least he’ll be out of his parents house!
The lesson here is the same one we learned in the case of Homer Moore: If you get away with something illegal, maybe keep it to yourself for a while. Or forever. Seems simple, right?
We may not have any UFC events to look forward to for the rest of March, but the MMA world isn’t sitting still. Yesterday was newsworthy on multiple fronts, with three big heavyweight bouts announced for May, a major lawsuit filed against a famou…
We may not have any UFC events to look forward to for the rest of March, but the MMA world isn’t sitting still. Yesterday was newsworthy on multiple fronts, with three big heavyweight bouts announced for May, a major lawsuit filed against a famous MMA apparel company and plenty of news coming out of Vegas […]
“Excuse me, one moment please–where do you fink you’re going with that check?” (Photo: UFC.com)
Alistair Overeem should be sitting on a big pile of cash this morning, but moments after handing Brock Lesnar a crushing first round defeat, “The Demolition Man” learned that he won’t be seeing a dime of his $385,000-plus purse, at least not for awhile. A Nevada State Court has issued a freeze on Alistair’s UFC 141 earnings pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by his former management team, Golden Glory (aka Knock Out Investments).
The lawsuit is the latest shot fired in the battle over fighter purses between Overeem, Golden Glory, and the UFC. Overeem was cut from Strikeforce after his representatives and Zuffa failed to see eye to eye on the post-fight payment process. Golden Glory wanted to be paid the full purse directly so that they could distribute the funds to their fighters in a timely fashion without the worry that they wouldn’t see their portion of the proceeds. According to the lawsuit filed yesterday, those concerns were not unfounded.
“Excuse me, one moment please–where do you fink you’re going with that check?” (Photo: UFC.com)
Alistair Overeem should be sitting on a big pile of cash this morning, but moments after handing Brock Lesnara crushing first round defeat, “The Demolition Man” learned that he won’t be seeing a dime of his $385,000-plus purse, at least not for awhile. A Nevada State Court has issued a freeze on Alistair’s UFC 141 earnings pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by his former management team, Golden Glory (aka Knock Out Investments).
The lawsuit is the latest shot fired in the battle over fighter purses between Overeem, Golden Glory, and the UFC. Overeem was cut from Strikeforce after his representatives and Zuffa failed to see eye to eye on the post-fight payment process. Golden Glory wanted to be paid the full purse directly so that they could distribute the funds to their fighters in a timely fashion without the worry that they wouldn’t see their portion of the proceeds. According to the lawsuit filed yesterday, those concerns were not unfounded.
Golden Glory’s legal team released the following statement regarding the lawsuit:
““There has been some consternation about the timing of a lawsuit filed by Knock Out Investment[s]/Golden Glory against Alistair Overeem,” the release stated. “We’ve been in discussions with Mr. Overeem’s legal counsel since Nov. 7, and there has been no progress regarding the dispute. The reality is that a fighter is paid within 24 hours of the bout. Given past failure to pay management and training fees, there is serious concern on my client’s part that Mr. Overeem will simply walk away with the money.
As of this morning, a Nevada District Court issued an Order directing the issuance of a pre-judgment writ of attachment and garnishment on Overeem’s fight purse, which would indicate that KOI/GG’s claims are meritorious.”
In court documents filed in California, Henderson claims that Lindland is unlawfully using the Team Quest brand to promote his gym and that he is the rightful owner of the name and logo made popular by himself, Lindland and Randy Couture in the 1990s. He is suing for trademark infringement, copyright infringement and unfair competition regarding the Team Quest brand. Lindland is countersuing Henderson for trademark and copyright infringement, unfair competition, deceptive advertising, breach of contract and interference with his future business relationships.
According to “The Law” he hasn’t spoken to Henderson about the case and was taken aback when he received notice that he was being sued as it was never discussed prior to court documents being filed.
(Back when Team Quest was all about fighting and orgies.)
In court documents filed in California, Henderson claims that Lindland is unlawfully using the Team Quest brand to promote his gym and that he is the rightful owner of the name and logo made popular by himself, Lindland and Randy Couture in the 1990s. He is suing for trademark infringement, copyright infringement and unfair competition regarding the Team Quest brand. Lindland is countersuing Henderson for trademark and copyright infringement, unfair competition, deceptive advertising, breach of contract and interference with his future business relationships.
According to “The Law” he hasn’t spoken to Henderson about the case and was taken aback when he received notice that he was being sued as it was never discussed prior to court documents being filed.
“I never heard anything from [Henderson] before he filed the lawsuit,” he told Sherdog.com. “I thought we were friends. He never called me and said he had a problem with me. He just filed the lawsuit. That’s not how I do things. You don’t sue your friends.I guess we didn’t have the same opinion when it came to our friendship.Maybe that’s the way they do things [where Henderson lives]. Dan wouldn’t call me before the lawsuit, and we haven’t talked since it got filed.”
“The litigation is ongoing and I can’t talk that much about it, but I have no idea what the basis for the lawsuit is,” Lindland said. “None of the documents we’ve asked for have been delivered to us, so I have no idea what we’re being sued for. That would at least tell me why [Henderson] thinks he has a case. We’ll figure it out, though.”
Lindland, who in spite of rumors that his fighting days are behind him, says that he hasn’t retired, but explains that coaching and his other business ventures outside the cage have left him with little time to train.
“Lately, I’ve been in Vancouver doing a lot of business consulting,” said Lindland. “For the six weeks prior to that, I was running Okami’s camp to get him ready for [UFC 134]. I didn’t make the trip to Rio because I don’t speak Japanese. Josh Thomson just fell out of a fight [for Strikeforce] and we’re hoping to get a guy in his place, and [Chael] Sonnen has a fight camp coming up [for his matchup with Brian Stann at UFC 136], as well,” said Lindland. “I’ve been busy running the gym and being the head coach of Team Quest. I’m pursuing a lot of business opportunities that I didn’t have a chance to do when I was a more active fighter.I’m not retired. I still possess the skills and am learning new things every day. I just have no plans of fighting soon, and I’m prioritizing things differently. I’m focusing more on the money-making opportunities in MMA right now.”
He might need that money if he continues to be sued like he has been twice in the past year alone.
It seems like no one can get along with Josh Koscheck, including Stephan Bonnar. The UFC light heavyweight competitor, recently gave his thoughts on the UFC welterweight and explained the situation regarding the lawsuit involving “Kos” and …
It seems like no one can get along with Josh Koscheck, including Stephan Bonnar. The UFC light heavyweight competitor, recently gave his thoughts on the UFC welterweight and explained the situation regarding the lawsuit involving “Kos” and Bonnar’s clothing line, “Trash Talkin’ Kids,” during a UFC Q&A session last week. Koscheck did not respond kindly […]
