The UFC faced a class-action lawsuit in 2014 when a number of fighters made allegations that the promotion had violated anti-trust laws. The case is still ongoing, however, and the UFC’s biggest rival is now involved Reports confirm that Bellator has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court (Central District of California) which will effectively […]
The UFC faced a class-action lawsuit in 2014 when a number of fighters made allegations that the promotion had violated anti-trust laws. The case is still ongoing, however, and the UFC’s biggest rival is now involved Reports confirm that Bellator has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court (Central District of California) which will effectively […]
(This image is a placeholder, and will be replaced with a more relevant image as soon as we know what the lawsuit is actually about.)
The reported class-action lawsuit against the UFC filed by current and former fighters will be officially announced this afternoon. The communications firm Turner4D sent a notice to CagePotato.com and other MMAmedia entities yesterday afternoon, stating that the plaintiffs’ names and other details will be provided during a news conference beginning at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET. The conference will be held at Hyatt Place San Jose/Downtown in San Jose, California. Autograph seekers are advised to wait by the bar and act cool.
CagePotato will be listening in to the proceedings via telephone machine, and we’ll type out important updates about the UFC class-action lawsuit below as we get them. Stay tuned, you guys. #TheTimeIsNow
– Even before the call starts, Greg Savage of Sherdog passes along some info: “The civil action is [titled] Cung Le, et al v. Zuffa, LLC, d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship and UFC…Media packet states that Cung Le, Jon Fitch and Nate Quarry are the participants in the suit…The case was filed today in the Northern District of California in San Jose. It seeks treble damages and injunctive relief under the Sherman Antitrust Act.”
(This image is a placeholder, and will be replaced with a more relevant image as soon as we know what the lawsuit is actually about.)
The reported class-action lawsuit against the UFC filed by current and former fighters will be officially announced this afternoon. The communications firm Turner4D sent a notice to CagePotato.com and other MMAmedia entities yesterday afternoon, stating that the plaintiffs’ names and other details will be provided during a news conference beginning at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET. The conference will be held at Hyatt Place San Jose/Downtown in San Jose, California. Autograph seekers are advised to wait by the bar and act cool.
CagePotato will be listening in to the proceedings via telephone machine, and we’ll type out important updates about the UFC class-action lawsuit below as we get them. Stay tuned, you guys. #TheTimeIsNow
– Even before the call starts, Greg Savage of Sherdog passes along some info: “The civil action is [titled] Cung Le, et al v. Zuffa, LLC, d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship and UFC…Media packet states that Cung Le, Jon Fitch and Nate Quarry are the participants in the suit…The case was filed today in the Northern District of California in San Jose. It seeks treble damages and injunctive relief under the Sherman Antitrust Act.”
Two weeks ago, former UFC fighter Chris Leben let rip with a vicious tweet that sent shock waves throughout the MMA community:
The tweet has since been deleted—replaced with the story that Leben acted out because he’d lost his dog—bu…
Two weeks ago, former UFC fighter Chris Leben let rip with a vicious tweet that sent shock waves throughout the MMA community:
The tweet has since been deleted—replaced with the story that Leben acted out because he’d lost his dog—but interest in the original message’s meaning has only snowballed. Ex-UFC fighter and fellow Ultimate Fighter alumni Nate Quarry chimed in with his own criticism of the UFC’s practices. Some fans blame Chris Leben for engineering his situation by making his own mistakes—including drug addiction and failure to pay income tax—while others question the promoter’s responsibility to former fighters.
Talking to former UFC champion Frank Shamrock uncovers stark realities about the life of a retired MMA fighter.
“I don’t think some guys realize that at some point, physically, they’ll be done, and at some point, their drawing power will be done,” says Shamrock. “In fact, they will literally stop overnight. There’s no backup, no union, no protection, no pension—there’s nothing to help them move to the next career.”
In January, Leben—loser of four straight fights in the UFC—announced his retirement from the sport. He’d played a pivotal role in the resurgence of the UFC as a contestant on the first season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). During his professional career in the organization, he racked up numerous “Fight of the Night” and “Knockout of the Night” awards, but when he quit the sport, the bonus checks and the limelight abruptly faded away. The size of Leben’s purses has been a matter of debate, but a fighter can have problems regardless of their career earnings. Fans need look no further than boxing superstar Manny Pacquaio to witness an example of a fighter earning multimillions in purses and falling victim to reckless spending and tax woes. Or the infamous Mike Tyson, who had $300 million in career earnings, but declared bankruptcy with $38.4 million in debt as of 2004.
Chris Leben’s salaries as a mid-tier fighter with the UFC likely represent the spare change floating in the recesses of Pacquiao or Tyson’s couch cushions. There was never any question that Leben would require a job to see him past his career as an MMA fighter, just as so many other prominent retired fighters have worked positions in broadcasting, coaching, running their own gyms or even selling luxury cars.
Says Shamrock, “At the end of the day, I’ve always made the bulk of my money teaching martial arts.”
When he retired, Leben told the public he was working as a coach at Victory MMA in San Diego, California. While Leben could have used his own earnings to get counseling or even reached out to UFC president Dana White via private channels, he chose to make his incendiary post on Twitter instead.
Leben’s actions are controversial in that the number one rule of being a member of this Fight Club is to never criticize the promotion in the public eye. UFC fighters know that discretionary bonuses, title shots, employment with Zuffa/FOX, continued employment with the UFC and other perks come down to earning the favoritism of the Zuffa brass. According to Leben’s Twitter account, Dana White and the UFC reached out to help him after he made his attention-grabbing Twitter post, although Leben’s management has been unresponsive when it comes to interview requests.
Frank Shamrock believes it’s in the promotion’s best interests to provide support to former fighters, especially exciting stars like Leben who contributed to the UFC’s financial success, “You look at the value that Leben has brought to the company and the money he has brought to the bottom line. You want to protect guys like that in the future, or at least pretend like you’re protecting them so the next generation will line up and do the same thing for you.”
Times have changed since The Ultimate Fighter debuted in 2005. TUF has shown continually diminishing returns in the ratings column and rarely produces fighters of the same caliber that the earliest seasons did. Spike TV had a nasty breakup with the UFC in 2011 and now broadcasts competing promotion Bellator. Three out of four of TUF’s first season finalists—Kenny Florian, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin—are retired from the sport.
Yet Chris Leben has yet to fully break away from the past. To paraphrase from Donnie Darko, he was born with tragedy flowing through his veins. On the UFC 89 Countdown show, he revealed that alcoholism ran through his family and outside of stints in the Army and jail, he’d never been sober for longer than two weeks straight since he was 13 years old.
“A lot of people who go into fighting aren’t well-adjusted,” says Shamrock, who revealed his own struggles coming from a broken home, dealing with alcoholism and time spent incarcerated in his autobiography Uncaged.
With his controversial tweet, Chris Leben pointed the finger at Zuffa for his troubles. In actuality, the UFC just ended up being a mechanism whereby the majority of fighters abandon the normalcy of typical jobs—like driving a truck—for the glamor of the stage. That they incur brain damage, lingering injuries or other hazards is about on par with professional sports like the NFL minus the benefits professional sports organizations often bestow through their players associations.
On paper, the UFC’s obligation to Chris Leben is no different than a casino’s responsibility to its patrons. Betting your life on hitting it big and expecting the prize to solve all your problems is a losing proposition for the vast majority of both casino patrons and fighters. The only one who consistently comes out ahead is the house—in this case, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the majority owners of the UFC. Fighters have to be smart in using MMA as a platform for their own advancement rather than blindly believing that there is a plan to take care of them in the future.
The question now–is the UFC morally or socially obligated to pay for Chris Leben’s counseling? Offer him further advice to deal with his tax situation? Spring for rehab when stars need it like the WWE does? Is Leben entitled to financial assistance beyond the purses and bonuses he earned?
No matter what the UFC does, the organization has its back up against the wall: there are many more UFC fighters who will be retiring over the coming years, and the organization simply cannot address all of their personal or professional issues. As Nate Quarry has stated, the UFC is just a business that puts its own interests first and foremost.
Fighters have to be aware of what the current arrangement is, period.
“If you’re out there risking your body—your physical health—you’ve got to be compensated,” says Shamrock. “It’s got to be worth it to you and everybody else. And if it’s not, then don’t do it.
At the start of his career, one can imagine Chris Leben thought about winning the title and fulfilling the dream of standing on the top of the mountain, applause and accolades raining down. Now that his situation has changed for the worse, where is the light at the end of the tunnel?
“There’s no light in this industry because nobody has sparked it and maintained it,” says Shamrock. “There is a light in getting healthy personally.”
When the curtain falls, the performer must confront painful personal truths. Bright lights—dark shadows.
(I look at this photo and think, “now there’s a guy who just wants to open up a dialogue and find some common ground.” / Photo by Cindy Schultz for Times Union)
Normally, this is the point where UFC president Dana White would find the nearest video-camera and call Quarry a [expletive] loser crybaby who never did anything for the promotion and is lying about how much money he made in the first place. Instead, Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole asked UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta how he felt about Quarry’s remarks. Here’s what the UFC’s less-visible, more level-headed frontman had to say:
“This sport is in its infancy, and I’ll admit that there is so much more to be done, but the media is focusing so much on the negative and there are far more positives out there in terms of what we have done for the sport and the fighters,” Fertitta said. “You come to work every day and you kind of feel beaten down because it’s something new [to complain about] every day…
“I’m not going to argue or counter every specific claim made by Nate Quarry on some website,” Fertitta said. “I’m super proud of what we have done for our athletes, this sport and this company. Our track record is darn good as a whole and we have nothing to be embarrassed about.
“This fight Nate is talking about was so long ago and clearly the business wasn’t where it is today. It was in its infancy and we were coming out of a period where we suffered millions upon millions in losses. It wasn’t an insignificant amount of money. And I’ll tell you this, Nate is a smart guy. Absolutely he is. He knew when he signed his contract exactly what he’d be paid….
(I look at this photo and think, “now there’s a guy who just wants to open up a dialogue and find some common ground.” / Photo by Cindy Schultz for Times Union)
Normally, this is the point where UFC president Dana White would find the nearest video-camera and call Quarry a [expletive] loser crybaby who never did anything for the promotion and is lying about how much money he made in the first place. Instead, Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole asked UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta how he felt about Quarry’s remarks. Here’s what the UFC’s less-visible, more level-headed frontman had to say:
“This sport is in its infancy, and I’ll admit that there is so much more to be done, but the media is focusing so much on the negative and there are far more positives out there in terms of what we have done for the sport and the fighters,” Fertitta said. “You come to work every day and you kind of feel beaten down because it’s something new [to complain about] every day…
“I’m not going to argue or counter every specific claim made by Nate Quarry on some website,” Fertitta said. “I’m super proud of what we have done for our athletes, this sport and this company. Our track record is darn good as a whole and we have nothing to be embarrassed about.
“This fight Nate is talking about was so long ago and clearly the business wasn’t where it is today. It was in its infancy and we were coming out of a period where we suffered millions upon millions in losses. It wasn’t an insignificant amount of money. And I’ll tell you this, Nate is a smart guy. Absolutely he is. He knew when he signed his contract exactly what he’d be paid….
“[F]ighter compensation has increased multiples upon multiples since we’ve gotten into the business and built it up to where it is today. We’re very proud of what our athletes make. Granted, back in 2004, 2005, it was a different world. We weren’t getting the revenues back then that we are today. We feel the fighters are getting their fair share, if not more…
“[Fighter payroll] has gone up significantly, and though I don’t have it at the tip of my fingers, I can tell you it’s gone up faster than the percentage of revenue growth.” he said. “Fighter comp is growing at a faster rate than revenues.”
See what Fertitta did there? He responded to sharp criticism and defended his company’s labor practices, but didn’t resort to personal attacks. He didn’t publicly bury a guy who fought his heart out and risked his health while under contract with the UFC. He didn’t get so vein-bulgingly mad that he started dropping F-bombs every fourth word. (Did you notice that Fertitta even said “darn good” instead of “damn good”? Holy shit, you guys.)
Last month, Georges St-Pierre — one of the most successful and well-known UFC champions of all-time — blasted the promotion for not doing enough to address the sport’s PED problem, and even called the UFC a “monopoly.” Fertitta said he was “disappointed” by the comments. (“We’ve always had an open line of communication with him and I’d like to know why he feels that way,” he told Iole.) Again, no rage-fueled theatrics, and no personal attacks aimed at a guy who used to make him money.
Man. Wouldn’t it be nice if this was the public face of the UFC instead of Dana White, a shrieking, sweating WWF manager who insults his own employees for not living up to his unreasonable expectations? White helped lead Zuffa through its first ten rocky years, and he deserves a great deal of credit for that. His street-smart, take-no-crap approach won him respect and admiration among the UFC’s fanbase. But now that the UFC has entered the network television/global expansion phase of its existence, it doesn’t need a tough-guy caricature out front. In fact, Dana’s continued presence — from his angry outbursts at reporters, to his now-constant criticism of his own fighters — has become a distraction.
(I respect and adore these brave warriors who risk their WAIT HE MAKES MORE MONEY THAN I MAKE WORKING PART-TIME AT HOT TOPIC?! DIE IN A FIRE, SCUMBAG!)
This is a ban that we’ve been meaning to enact for quite some time. In the MMA community, long-winded rants about issues such as low pay, cruel treatment, and disrespectful articles about the men and women who sacrifice their health for our entertainment are as much a part of being an MMA fan as owning a glittery Affliction shirt. Most fans want you to know that unlike other sports, MMA is a sport whose fans truly and deeply care about the general well-being of the fighters.
And about 90% of those fans are completely full of shit, and need to finally be called on it.
The opportunity to do so has never been better than it’s been these past four days, while UFC veterans have tried to express their displeasure with the organization, only to be told to bite their tongues by the fans. First there was Chris Leben, who actually said point blank that he would have been better off driving a truck instead of fighting for the UFC for the past decade. Next, there was Nate Quarry, who exposed both how little most guys make through sponsorships and how little the UFC actually cares about their fighters. If even half of the fans who claim to respect the fighters actually did, there would be serious pressure on the UFC this week.
(I respect and adore these brave warriors who risk their WAIT HE MAKES MORE MONEY THAN I MAKE WORKING PART-TIME AT HOT TOPIC?! DIE IN A FIRE, SCUMBAG!)
This is a ban that we’ve been meaning to enact for quite some time. In the MMA community, long-winded rants about issues such as low pay, cruel treatment, and disrespectful articles about the men and women who sacrifice their health for our entertainment are as much a part of being an MMA fan as owning a glittery Affliction shirt. Most fans want you to know that unlike other sports, MMA is a sport whose fans truly and deeply care about the general well-being of the fighters.
And about 90% of those fans are completely full of shit, and need to finally be called on it.
The opportunity to do so has never been better than it’s been these past four days, while UFC veterans have tried to express their displeasure with the organization, only to be told to bite their tongues by the fans. First there was Chris Leben, who actually said point blank that he would have been better off driving a truck instead of fighting for the UFC for the past decade. Next, there was Nate Quarry, who exposed both how little most guys make through sponsorships and how little the UFC actually cares about their fighters. If even half of the fans who claim to respect the fighters actually did, there would be serious pressure on the UFC this week.
Instead, the majority of fans immediately began defending the UFC. Leben was dismissed as a drug addict who blew his money. Quarry was dismissed as a troublemaker who overestimated how much money UFC 56 made at the gate. And of course, there were the more generic arguments, too. “These guys make more money than I do, so who cares?” “If you don’t like it, go fight for someone else and see if you get paid more.” “You knew the terms when you signed the contract, so don’t start complaining now.” None of those arguments are technically wrong; they’re just the types of things you’d say to a bartender who complains about annoying customers, a stripper who complains about being fondled, or anyone else you don’t care about at all whatsoever.
Essentially, the justification of – and in many cases, reframing of – poor treatment towards the fighters proved that most of the same fans who preach about how much they care about the athletes actually don’t. And spare me the “We’d listen to different fighters” line, because when Georges St. Pierre – the dominant champion who dedicated his life towards being the perfect ambassador for our sport – tried to put pressure on the UFC to implement better drug testing, he was met with casual indifference from the fans.
This certainly isn’t to say that we don’t care about the fighters, and this especially isn’t to say that we’re the only people who care about them, either. But rather, this is a call to the fans who throw a fighter under the bus because he wants to treat his injuries, who think nothing of a former WEC champion only being offered $17k to fight, and who cheer for an employer who does things that they themselves would never tolerate at their jobs to quit pretending to care about the well-being of the fighters, because you obviously don’t.
Again, for those of you who do care about the fighters, by all means continue rallying for better fighter treatment, because that isn’t just going to happen on its own. But for the fans who gladly protect the predatory behaviors that plague our favorite sport? Don’t use words if you don’t know what they mean.
Two weeks ago, former UFC fighter 
