UFC is about to get sued for $100s of millions

[Ezzzzy1]

I kinda figured it was a matter of time till someone popped the balloon holding almost a billion dollars cash over at UFC. Should be interesting to see whos behind the lawsuit.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/12/13/7387889/fighters-to-sue-ufc-for-100s-of-millions-in-class-action

[bulldog]

As much as I like UFC for saving the mainstream MMA sport, I do have to agree they have monopolized way too much and now we are seeing the negative effects of it, so I am glad someone is challenging them! Their only real competition right now is Bellator MMA so when a business buys up every other competition then they start to be able to dictate the rules/pay….which I do not agree with. At one time I felt like Dana White and UFC were all about their fighters, but recently it has seemed that UFC is just about profits! I don’t get it as they make so much money and highly doubt Dana or the Fertitta brothers are hurting for money at all….just seems like they are being greedy. Now they want to not let fighters get their own personal sponsorships when that is how they make most their money……BS! To me it seems like this did this because UFC got a big payday by Reebok, so they said screw the fighters, UFC will make tons of money off of this….I am sure it was a negation by Reebok to say only they can be in the Octagon now and they want no competition in there. Since UFC does not go by a tournament bracket (meaning next fighter in rank gets next shot) then why should fighters not market themselves! Now their sponsorship pay (from Reebok) is based on ranking which have been a controversial issue for a long time; many do not agree with their ranking system and this is what is going to determine what percentage of the Reebok sponsorship money they get. This is just part of it…lots of shady things done by UFC lately….their crazy censorship is out of hand!


I can bet Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture are part of this lawsuit! :lol:

[Ezzzzy1]

Im guessing they will lose this lawsuit and then they will have created an environment that needs things like Agents and Lawyers to represent the fighters. And that sucks balls because if they had just put the fighters first they wouldn't need those things. Hell, a union could even get voted in right now. The old fighters that paved the way for the things that we see in the UFC now are complaining because they made peanuts compared to what the fighters are making now.

Should be fun to watch the shit slinging between the fighters involved and the UFC. Im sure they both have dirt on each other.

[bulldog]

I think the biggest problem is fighters have few choices now….basically because UFC (Zuffa) has bought up all the competition; Strikeforce, Pride, WEC, EliteXC, etc. So now UFC is able to offer fighters crappy deals and then say “take it or try to find another organization”…which really all that is left is Bellator. I love Bellator, but the level of fighters is not as high and neither is the ratings. So basically if you want to fight in the “NFL” of MMA, your choice needs to be UFC! Yet in past UFC needed the best fighters, so they were more inclined to work with them. It was still all good though, but now they took their sponsors away and that really is going to hurt some fighters. I do not see anything changing though unless a larger organization is able to take over and offer some serious competition, but seeing as Bellator is owned by Viacom (5th largest broadcaster) and has not been able to do it, not sure who can. Hopefully this lawsuit will fix some things for the fighters.

Tito Ortiz has been fighting UFC on pay for years and fighters nowadays really owe a lot to him because he stuck up for fighters and refused to fight unless they paid him more….hence why Dana White hates him so much (Dana was at one time his manager prior to owning UFC).


P.S. EJ, come join us to watch the fights man....been too long! January 3rd is next PPV; Jones vs Cormier! Hit me up!!!!!

[bulldog]

What I am hearing is if UFC loses this lawsuit they will most likely go bankrupt and be gone as they cannot take this large a hit. I do feel they monopolized, but at the same time where are all these fighters going to work if UFC goes under. In end will this hurt fighters more. I am sure Bellator could take some of these fighters, but not sure they could afford them all unless their parent company, Viacom, digs deep in their pockets. Then Bellator could just become like UFC with no competition. This should be interesting to see what happens and what names are on lawsuit....you can guarantee every fighter on this lawsuit will be banned from UFC for life.....like Tito and Randy already are :lol:

Sad the same aggressive marketing strategy that made MMA may be the same one to take it out :dunno:

[Ezzzzy1]

Ive read that the top money maker on the list is going after more than $100 million personally, AND HE STILL WORKS FOR THE UFC!

Its like the whole "I hate my parents" thing. Then your parents tell you to leave and you realize how good you used to have it.

If I was the UFC I would have done whatever I had to do to keep fighters happy without them feeling like they needed agents so long as you were able to keep the company profitable.

I guarantee the next lawsuit is going to be the brain/concussion one. Even though everyone knows its a HUGE risk.

[Tiutis]

I agree about UFC having monopolized the industry which is really bad for the fighters. Most of those guys get peanuts for what they do. Now that UFC is mainstream with the "UFC" gyms everywhere, it's about time that somebody speaks up for the fighters.
I had looked up somewhere that Arlovski has made barely .5 mil throughout his career, and he's been fighting for over a decade now. That's lots of head pounding for little in return.

[bulldog]

Ive read that the top money maker on the list is going after more than $100 million personally, AND HE STILL WORKS FOR THE UFC!

Its like the whole "I hate my parents" thing. Then your parents tell you to leave and you realize how good you used to have it.

If I was the UFC I would have done whatever I had to do to keep fighters happy without them feeling like they needed agents so long as you were able to keep the company profitable.

I guarantee the next lawsuit is going to be the brain/concussion one. Even though everyone knows its a HUGE risk. Wow, I wonder who that is.....they need to publish this list...purely for my own interest. :lol: I am sure Nate and Nick Diaz are part of this and are both still signed to the UFC, so wouldn't be surprised to find out it is Nick as he has hated UFC for many years!

I knew this was going to happen though. UFC is turning into a WWE circus and less like a sport nowadays.....heck they signed CM Punk to fight and if you look it up he has little fighting experience...unless you count fake wrestling (I do respect what they do though). And you can bet CM Punk is making more than most the UFC fighters that have been there for years! Heck their pay system is so dumb; last I checked Overeem was the highest paid fighter and Cain makes less than half of what he does and is champ. Then you got the new guy "Conor McGregor" that is being hand fed fights so he can bring in the huge Ireland fans! Guy is getting paid top dollar with more perks than any other fighter has got and he hasn't even come close to getting a belt; give him Edgar or Swanson and see what happens. All just to bring in more money for UFC and clearly disrespecting their loyal UFC fighters so I could see them getting pissed.

Randy Couture was a legend in UFC and is now banned from even coming into a UFC event; he tried numerous times to corner his son who fights/fought for the UFC and was denied. Basically if you pissed off Dana White he retaliates and I am sure people are sick of him doing this. Sucks because at one time I really liked and respected the guy, but no I am not so sure how I feel about him....I just see so much greed in him now.

As for the "brain/concussion" lawsuit I really hope that never happens because it is BS. This is not the NFL where they have allowed someone to continue to play; one concussion and you are benched for 3 months in UFC; no exceptions. Plus come on you are a fighter, so you better expect to get concussions, but I do feel the UFC policy is on top of this and is safer than the NFL. Article on that http://www.mmamania.com/2013/1/8/3852326/ufc-president-dana-white-mma-concussions-nfl-mma



I agree about UFC having monopolized the industry which is really bad for the fighters. Most of those guys get peanuts for what they do. Now that UFC is mainstream with the "UFC" gyms everywhere, it's about time that somebody speaks up for the fighters.
I had looked up somewhere that Arlovski has made barely .5 mil throughout his career, and he's been fighting for over a decade now. That's lots of head pounding for little in return. At least let the fighters get their own sponsorships and allow them to make the money that way…..but no, instead they had to bring in this Reebok deal and then tell all their fighters “tough luck, tell your sponsors your deals are off”. I’ve already heard fighters stated they have lost nearly half their sponsors now because all the spobnsors are aware this new rule goes into affect on July 6th 2015 so no companies want to sign new deals. Denver based fighter Brendan Schaub already talked about how he has lost 6 sponsors so far; and the deal doesn’t go into effect for over 7 months from now! He claims just from the announcement recently is caused him to have the lowest sponsorship money of his 13 fight career. http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/12/9/7360485/brendan-schaub-i-lost-six-sponsors-for-ufc-181-because-of-the-reebok Pretty sad when he will now make more money on his podcast than his UFC money…go support that since it is at least not UFC based. I listen every week and love it (hosted with comedian Brian Callen). http://podbay.fm/show/706421907


Yeah pretty sure that is why Arlovski left the UFC; he was pissed over the pay and politics. Now that UFC monopolized and bought out Strikeforce that he was signed to, he was forced to go to smaller leagues to avoid the UFC (WSOF, ProElite), but obviously the money was not their or at least the number of fights he wanted so he was forced to come back to the UFC. Well guess nobody forces them, but when your career is fighting and you basically have one option what else was he going to do. This all goes along with the lawsuit and why it came to be….to many fighters feel UFC has done this to them.

[~Barn~]

Who's with me?

Joe Rogan vs. Phil Brooks for his welcome fight into the UFC!

[bulldog]

Who's with me?

Joe Rogan vs. Phil Brooks for his welcome fight into the UFC! As long as I get to pick Rogan; I'd bet any amount of money on him beating CM Punk.

You looked into Brook's past? He didn't even wrestle in school or college, his BJJ with Gracies show him as a white belt still, and nothing is found on the "kempo" he claims to know. Put that against Rogan's history and no match!


At least Broc was a acclaimed NCAA wrestler....this CM Punk is just a hype match. Now they want him to fight the "Green Power Ranger" (yes from kids show)


One spinning back kick of Rogan's like this will make CM run back to WWE retirement :lol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFWO7N0U5YQ



In case people are unaware of Rogan's Martial Arts
During high school, Rogan was a practitioner of Taekwondo and gained a black belt at age 15.[33] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan#cite_note-tmz.com-33) He soon became the Massachusetts full contact Tae Kwon Do champion four consecutive years. By the age of 19, Rogan won the US Open Tae Kwon Do Championship and as lightweight champion went on to beat both the middle and heavyweight title-holders to obtain the Grand Championship.[34] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan#cite_note-34) He started judo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo) at the age of 20 and after a year of training received blue belt.[35] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan#cite_note-35) In 1996, Rogan began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Jiu-Jitsu) under Carlson Gracie at his school in Hollywood, California.[33] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan#cite_note-tmz.com-33) He is a black belt in Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Planet_Jiu-Jitsu), a style of no-gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu,[36] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan#cite_note-36) and a black belt in gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Jean Jacques Machado (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Jacques_Machado).[37] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan#cite_note-37) His record as a kickboxer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickboxer) is 2-1.[33] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan#cite_note-tmz.com-33)

[~Barn~]

Doesn't mean I wouldn't watch it! =)

[Ezzzzy1]

Lawsuit was filed. HERE (http://combatsportslaw.com/2014/12/16/ufc-class-action-lawsuit-filed-court-complaint/)is a brief breakdown of it.

HERE (https://canadianmmalawblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/le-v-zuffa-anti-trust-class-action-complaint.pdf)is the actual 60 page filing

[Ezzzzy1]

This whole thing is based on the fact that these fighters believe that the UFC has "systematically" shut down their competitors. Unless someone can prove exactly that, the UFC has a great chance at winning this.

I dont feel that the UFC has done anything more than buy up their failing competition.

[bulldog]

Names came out yesterday. As Ezzzzy1's link states is was Cung Le, Nathan Quarry and Jon Fitch. Hmmm...figured there would be more on this and ones with more proof; Randy, Tito, etc, but I assume since they are Bellator that they cannot come foward; and if so it is dumb to say they have nowhere to go when they clearly are in a different league.

The lawyers already got shot down when Bellator was brought up...they fumbled and said they would talk about that later. WTF, that should have been the #1 issue they were going to be asked...the obvious comp to UFC, Probably doesn't help that Jon Fitch fought on Sat in WSOF...and lost. Funny thing is he fought another former UFC fighter that got a career in WSOF.

This should be interesting, but not sure I think it is as strong as I first thought the lawsuit would be though

[#1Townie]

About the only thing I can think they have a case on is the sponsor issues. And even at that. There is other places to fight. The free market is there.

Not sure if this is going to go anywhere.

[Ezzzzy1]

About the only thing I can think they have a case on is the sponsor issues. And even at that. There is other places to fight. The free market is there.

Not sure if this is going to go anywhere.

Agreed. I think thats why anyone with a brain (in the UFC :lol:) isnt putting their name on it. That and the top fighters are happy so there is no reason for them to get involved.

The bottom line is, if you are a good fighter, you love the UFC. If you are a shitty fighter, you hate them. They are just blaming someone else for their lack of skill.

[bulldog]

Agreed. I think thats why anyone with a brain (in the UFC :lol:) isnt putting their name on it. That and the top fighters are happy so there is no reason for them to get involved.

The bottom line is, if you are a good fighter, you love the UFC. If you are a shitty fighter, you hate them. They are just blaming someone else for their lack of skill.


Well to be fair I will say that Jon Fitch does have a bit to complain about. The guy was not exciting to watch (always went to decisions), and this is why UFC hated him, but he did have some great wins. They waited for him to lose and first lose UFC cut him. Traditionally you need three loses in a row for UFC to amend their contract to release you. Not sure what happened with him, but he did not have three loses in a row, but they released his contract…..hell he even took BJPen to a draw! It came down to they wanted him to have exciting fights, but UFC doesn’t get their “exciting” fights are great for them and fans, but can cause major damage to the fighter….look at Diego Sanchez; one of the UFC’s favorite, but the guy has bleed and been in major beat downs so many times….smart fighters don’t want to be brain damaged later in life just to suite UFC.


Although saying that, he was signed to WSOF and has fought his last four fights there…..so kind of hard to say they stopped him from working.


Yeah the Reebok deal is BS…although not sure it has much to do with that. Fighters affected by that are still signed to the UFC, so they complain they are cutting their own throat for sure; Dana always get even. Seeing as those three fighters are all from AKA, I am worried he is going to take this out on Cormier and Cain….because Dana is a baby like that

[#1Townie]

Well to be honest ufc is not in business so that fighters could always go to the scorecards. That's what was wrong with boxing.

To the fighters that want to be smart and not risk injury.... No pain no gain!!

[bulldog]

Well to be honest ufc is not in business so that fighters could always go to the scorecards. That's what was wrong with boxing.

To the fighters that want to be smart and not risk injury.... No pain no gain!!

I guess since one of my best friends brother is in the UFC I get to see things from both sides. He worries about his brother and the hits he takes, so I can see how a fighter has to constantly worry that the more damage they take, the worst it can be in the future. So saying that I can see why fighters have to fight “smart” even though UFC wants crazy exciting fights. Then with UFC’s three lose clause it really gets the fighters worried if they do take chances and lose, they will be out of the UFC. Plus they are also fighting the best of the best, so the competition is rough and not as easy to finish these guys as it seems. So now you are seeing fighters playing it smarter and not taking those chances.

On the other hand as a fan and in UFC’s best interest I do love the exciting fights and do get disappointed when it goes to the scorecards. I’d love to see every fight end in a KO or Submission and the cards that have those end up being the ones everyone talks about. Sometimes I wish for the deathmatch from the movie Bloodsport….you go to last round and you both have to dip your hands in glue and shattered glass and fight that way. :lol:

With boxing there are so many leagues and different champs now that I worry UFC could fall to this also if all the best fighters in the UFC end up being split up; if UFC would go under. Then it would turn into boxing where we have 5 different heavyweight champs. Sure MMA has different leagues now, but we all know the top fighters are in the UFC and if you want to be the best you want to be champ of UFC….as opposed to Bellator and WSOF

I think the answer here is a fighters union! It has worked for other sports like NFL, so they need to team up and get that done and I think that would solve a lot of problems.

[#1Townie]

Nope.