Cung Le, et al v. Zuffa, LLC, d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship and UFC – Antitrust Litigation

Led by Eric L. Cramer, Michael Dell’Angelo, and Patrick F. Madden, Berger Montague serves as co-lead counsel on behalf of a certified class of UFC fighters who fought for the UFC between December 16, 2010 and June 30, 2017 in Le v. Zuffa, LLC, as well as a proposed class of UFC fighters who fought for the UFC between July 1, 2017 and the present in Johnson v. Zuffa, LLC.

The complaints in the Le Action and the Johnson Action allege that the plaintiffs and members of the classes are victims of the UFC’s illegal scheme to eliminate its competition in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and that the defendants have suppressed compensation for UFC Fighters. The cases are pending in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.

On October 22, 2024, Berger Montague as Co-Lead Class Counsel won preliminary approval of a $375 million settlement for UFC fighters in the Le v. Zuffa LLC action. 

“We are extremely pleased that Judge Boulware granted preliminary approval of the $375 million settlement of the Le v. Zuffa case,” said Firm Chairman Eric Cramer. “It is a monumental achievement that will get significant relief to hundreds of deserving MMA fighters. We honor our brave representative plaintiffs who fought for this result for ten years. And we look forward to pursuing significant business changes and more damages in our second antitrust case against the UFC,” said Mr. Cramer. Read more about the firm’s big win for UFC fighters here.

Berger Montague has led this litigation for ten years, first filing the Le Action first in December 2014. On October 19, 2016, Judge Richard F. Boulware II issued an opinion denying Zuffa’s motion to dismiss. Following several years of hard-fought litigation and a seven-witness evidentiary hearing on Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, the Court certified a class in the Le Action (consisting of UFC fighters who fought for the UFC between December 16, 2010 and June 30, 2017) on August 9, 2023. The Order granting class certification in the Le Action is available here. And on January 18, 2024, the Court denied the UFC’s motion for summary judgment in the Le action and set the matter for trial in April 2024. The Order denying summary judgment is available here.

Between Plaintiffs’ filing for class certification in February 2018 and the class certification Order in August 2023, Berger Montague filed the Johnson Action, seeking to represent a proposed class of UFC fighters who fought for the UFC between July 1, 2017, and the present. The Court denied the UFC’s motion to dismiss in the Johnson Action on September 30, 2022, and discovery had just begun when the settlement was reached.

Berger Montague will continue as Interim Co-Lead Class Counsel to litigate the Johnson Action, seeking both damages for UFC fighters appearing in UFC bouts since July 1, 2017 as well as injunctive relief to stop the alleged anticompetitive conduct going forward. The settlement of the Le Action will have no effect on the claims of the proposed Class in the Johnson Action.

Read more information about the agreement can be found in The Order Preliminarily Approving Settlement, Preliminarily Approving the Plan of Allocation, Approving the Notice Plan, and Approving the Proposed Schedule for Completing the Settlement Process, accessible here. 

Read more about this case:
‘Significant Relief’: Big Law Firms Represent UFC in $375M Antitrust Settlement Agreement, The National Law Journal, October 25, 2024.

About Berger Montague

Berger Montague is a national law firm focusing on complex civil litigation in federal and state courts throughout the United States. For over half a century, Berger Montague has played lead roles in consequential, precedent-setting cases and has recovered over $60 billion for its clients and the classes they have represented. Berger Montague is headquartered in Philadelphia and has offices in Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Delaware.