As the UFC prepares for its upcoming showcase event on Saturday, the real fight is set to take place outside the octagon, within the confines of a courtroom.
Last week, the UFC lost its bid to revoke class action status from hundreds of mixed martial arts fighters who are suing for more than a billion dollars in wages. The lawsuit accuses UFC parent company Zuffa LLC of illegally acquiring and maintaining a monopoly over the MMA industry, which resulted in fighters being paid “a fraction of what they would earn in a competitive marketplace.”
Now, with a pivotal ruling from the US ninth circuit court of appeals, the lawsuit is scheduled to start in April 2024.