⚖️ Judge approves $375M Zuffa UFC fighter antitrust settlement

President Donald Trump says he was “kidding” when he offered UFC chief Dana White the White House press secretary job, per a Fox News video dated Nov. 8. “I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy,” Trump said, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal carried it. White told a London news conference on Saturday that he would meet Trump on Monday, the AP reported. Monday is today. What came of the meeting is not in the documents read.

The Guardian reports the job pays $195,000 a year. Set that beside the court record of White's own company and fighter pay: a case that ran nearly 10 years and ended in a $375 million settlement. Here is the paperwork.

The claim

Cung Le, Nate Quarry, Jon Fitch and other fighters sued Zuffa in December 2014, ESPN reported. Zuffa LLC does business as UFC, according to the plaintiffs' law firm. The complaint alleged “a scheme to acquire and maintain monopsony power in the market for elite professional MMA fighter services,” per MMA Fighting. Monopsony means one dominant buyer of labor. The fighters named three tools: exclusive contracts, coercion, and acquisitions that eliminated potential competitors.

The suit sought treble damages under Section 2 of the Sherman Act (US monopoly law), plus injunctive relief, the plaintiffs' law firm says. In September 2015, ESPN reported, Judge Boulware denied Zuffa's full motion to dismiss. In August 2023 the court certified a class of about 1,200 fighters who competed from December 2010 to June 2017. MMA Fighting reported potential damages were estimated between $800 million and $1.6 billion.

"We get to prove what's known to be true, which is Zuffa has controlled the market and manipulated the market."

Nate Quarry, plaintiff, quoted by ESPN after the 2015 dismissal hearing

The answer

The UFC's answer, in a statement ESPN published in 2015, was blunt.

"As we have consistently stated, UFC competes in a lawful manner that benefits athletes around the world and has created a premier organization in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA)"

UFC statement, quoted by ESPN, September 2015

The same statement said the company looked forward to proving the allegations were “meritless.” ESPN also reports the UFC pointed to rival promotions that have emerged over three decades as evidence of an equal playing field. In February 2024, TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer told investors the company believed “strongly that the facts and the law are on our side,” while mediation ran alongside trial preparation, MMA Fighting reported.

What the record settles, and what it leaves open

On March 13, 2024, TKO agreed to settle both the Le and Johnson suits for $335 million, according to an SEC disclosure reported by MMA Fighting. In July 2024 Judge Boulware refused preliminary approval. MMA Fighting reported he thought the payout seemed low and that fighters in the second suit might object to arbitration and class-action waiver clauses. Plaintiffs' lawyer Eric Cramer had told him “the reality is the claim has little value.”

On Sept. 26, 2024, ESPN reported a revised deal: $375 million to settle the Le case alone. The UFC said it felt “it is in the best interest of all parties to bring this litigation to a close.” The judge gave preliminary approval in October 2024 and final approval on Feb. 6, 2025, per MMA Fighting. A written order followed on March 3, 2025, the plaintiffs' law firm says.

The plaintiffs' filing projected that class members would net about $250,000 on average after fees and costs, with 35 netting over $1 million. MMA Fighting reports each fighter's exact amount was still to be determined. Put the two figures side by side and you can judge the press-room pay cut for yourself.

The Johnson case, covering fighters from July 2017, remains open. In February 2026, White testified in Johnson and a related suit that his involvement in fighter contracts was “less than zero,” MMA Fighting reported. BBC Sport reported that the judge was skeptical of the set-up. Plaintiffs also moved in February 2026 for sanctions, telling the court the defendants “destroyed years of critical evidence,” the plaintiffs' law firm says. The documents read carry no UFC response to that motion.