‘What kind of check?’: Fighter confusion, fear, and curiosity meet $335 million UFC class-action settlement

There was confusion, fear, and curiosity from fighters contacted for their reaction to news of a $335 million settlement in the UFC class-action lawsuit. They had as many questions as answers.

“That’s interesting,” said one.

“I don’t really know anything about it yet,” said another.

“Have you ever seen the [Chappelle’s Show] skit where he says, ‘I plead the fifth!’” said another.

“What kind of check??” said a fourth.

For those who did comment publicly on social media, the reaction was muted disappointment. Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub called the settlement a “huge win” for the UFC, whose 2023 revenues topped $1.3 billion. Former UFC lightweight David Michaud joked about looking forward to a tiny payout, the most common outcome for most people roped into a class-action suit without much say in the matter.

At least one fighter asked that their name not be used in any story. In general, the closer the fighter was to the UFC’s current business, the more concerned they were about speaking out of turn. Several didn’t know whether they’d received a notice in the mail from the fighters’ attorneys giving them the option to opt out of the lawsuit.

Dan Hardy, a one-time welterweight title challenger whose UFC tenure dramatically ended in 2021, would consider any settlement “a lovely little treat for me for UFC 111,” where he said he walked away with $5,400 to fight then-champ Georges St-Pierre. But he was wary that the settlement missed a bigger opportunity to change the way the promotion does business.

“Of course, a bit of progress has been made, but the fact that there was a financial settlement suggests to me that the UFC has got what they wanted in maintaining control with their contracts,” Hardy said.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, really? It’s settled.’ The UFC have always got an amount of money they can put on it. Every time there was someone talking about setting up a fighter’s union, they’d disappear into an office, come out with a check in their pocket and never say anything again. I hope that’s not the case here.

“I’m here for MMA, and I know a lot of the guys involved in that class-action lawsuit are, as well. I hope that they’ve stuck to their guns and at least been able to change something for the future, as opposed to resolving what’s already happened.”

Others, such as former UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell, were downright suspicious about the motivations for the settlement. The numbers for damages that were originally bandied about earlier in the case — a low range of $860 billion to a high range of $1.6 billion, by one expert’s estimation — left him with the impression that someone had cut a sweetheart deal.

“It f****** sucks, because it should have been billions,” he said. “$300 million? Are you f****** kidding me? What a joke. I feel like there’s a backdoor deal. I feel like Cung Le and those guys got paid on the side. That’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”

The $335 million figure was, in fact, around $35 million short of what one economist estimated the UFC’s potential payout if the case was settled out of court, according to the New York Times. Although the initial figures for potential damages were widely reported, the final amount would have been decided at trial — unless the parties settled.

Two-time UFC lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard, a vocal critic of the UFC’s business practices, was prepared for the figure by a conversation with longtime antitrust reporter John Nash, who gave a similar estimate as The Times. His disappointment was in not seeing more of a spotlight on the way fighters were treated during his time in the octagon.

“I kind of would have liked it seen it go to trial, because a lot of stuff would have come out,” he said. “It’s not really getting publicized. I think a trial would have gotten a lot more publicity.”

There were other fighters who, while they didn’t opt out of the lawsuit, were sympathetic to both sides of the argument, reasoning that while some fighters may have been mistreated, they also chose to accept the pay offered by the UFC to fight in the octagon.

“I remind guys, this is a volunteer army,” said former UFC welterweight Jake Ellenberger. “You don’t have to fight. You know what you’re getting into. I can only speak for myself. I was always treated very well and I have a great relationship with them today.”

And for fighters such as four-time UFC title challenger Urijah Faber, who benefited tremendously from the UFC’s promotional machine as a competitor and coach, the potential money from a settlement was secondary to the businesses that supported his current lifestyle.

“There’s no doubt I feel like, in my career, I should have been paid a lot more money,” Faber said. “I was not held to the fire on what was done — I was just operating on what we had at the time. I decided to focus my time and energy and effort on moving forward with what I’ve got, and so if I can get a little kick on top of that, that’s great.

“I respect and feel for the guys that dedicated their time and effort to getting this done. That was a real martyr situation, so kudos to them, and I hope they get more. But I’m going to continue be forward-thinking and focus on building what I’ve got going on, whether it be the family business or the fight game.”

Details on the settlement, including how much the attorneys get paid and how the money is distributed to eligible fighters, is expected to be revealed in the next 45 to 60 days, when a formal agreement is posed to the court. Fighters have the right to contest the final arrangement, though it’s unlikely a few objections will overrule the majority in court.

One thing is abundantly clear as the next phase of the lawsuit progresses: business as the UFC and fighters know it will continue uninterrupted. There may or may not be changes to the way the promotion does business. The price exacted by the plaintiffs, while in the hundreds of millions, represent a small fraction of the revenues the UFC takes in from its television contracts alone.

So the biggest question from most fighters still digesting the news was: why, and what now? Perhaps the only answer possible came from Nate Quarry, one of the several named plaintiffs in the original lawsuit filed 10 years ago. The one-time UFC middleweight title challenger had a front row seat to all the developments in the case. The way he saw it, settlement was the best possible deal on a negotiating table with a lot of dicey options.

Changing the UFC’s business practices via court order, or injunctive relief, was far more of a long shot than many might have imagined, he indicated.

“No, we didn’t get everything we wanted,” Quarry wrote on Reddit. “Our goal all along was to change the sport. However, we had quite a few delays that we had to deal with. And to get injunctive relief, ie change the sport, we would have had to refile both lawsuits and combine them, go through discovery all over again, retake depositions, about a five year delay and then hope we get granted class action status again. We’d be looking at another ten years just to be where we are today with no guarantee of winning any punitive amount of injunctive change.

“As I said, weighing all the possible outcomes this seemed the best outcome. We’re not hi-fiving one another. But we are pleased that a lot of fighters are going to be getting some compensation for being underpaid. Wish we could’ve done more.

“Over time I’ll be able to speak more in depth about all this but for now, with apologies, this is about it.

“There are always going to be critics and detractors and my response is always the same. Think you could’ve done better? Show me how. Step into the ring.

“After my title fight loss a friend sent me this, and it’s how I view all criticism these days, ‘it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.’ Theodore Roosevelt

“It’s very easy to sit in the cheap seats and criticize. Once you step into the ring, once you taste your own blood, your whole world changes and you’re a little more understanding of those who attempt greatness. Even when they fall short.

“And for those that have cheering us on, thank you for your support. I can’t say much more than that. Thank you. We didn’t get all that we wanted but we will be able to help some guys that are hurting now.”