Last March, TKO Group Holdings (the parent company of UFC) agreed to pay $335 million to settle two antitrust lawsuits filed against UFC. The lawsuit named Le v. Zuffa covered the fighters from 2010 to 2017, and Johnson v. Zuffa covered the fighters from 2017 to the present.
Judge Richard Boulware refused to approve the settlement because the fighters would get a low payout. Boulware stated that the fighters in Johnson v. Zuffa could object to arbitration and class action waiver clauses in existing contracts.
On Monday, Judge Boulware set a new trial date for both cases after the status conference. The trial will take place on Monday, February 3rd, 2025. The judge has informed both parties that the date won’t change unless he approves a preliminary settlement agreement.
TKO recently announced that “the company is evaluating all of its options, including, without limitation, an appeal and has also initiated discussions with plaintiffs’ counsel, who have expressed a willingness to engage in separate settlement discussions for the Le and Johnson cases.”
UFC CEO Dana White stated that the judge had taken the case personally.