The UFC antitrust settlement is the largest payout in combat sports history, and most fans only know the headline number. Here’s what actually happened, who got paid, and why the fight over fighter pay is far from over.
How This Started: A Decade-Long Legal Fight
In December 2014, three former UFC fighters — Cung Le, Jon Fitch, and Nate Quarry — filed a class action lawsuit against Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company at the time. The case, Le v. Zuffa, alleged the UFC had engaged in a scheme to acquire monopsony power in the market for elite MMA fighter services — in plain terms, that the UFC made itself the only real employer in the sport and used that position to suppress what fighters could earn.
The lawsuit specifically targeted the contract mechanics covered in our breakdown of UFC fighter contracts: exclusivity clauses, the matching period, the champion’s clause, and the UFC’s pattern of acquiring rival promotions to eliminate competition for fighter talent.
The Case Builds: Class Certification and a Major Ruling
The case moved slowly through the courts for years. On August 9, 2023, Judge Richard F. Boulware II certified the class — meaning the case could proceed on behalf of all fighters who competed in the UFC between December 16, 2010 and June 30, 2017, roughly 1,200 fighters.
In certifying the class, Boulware found that the UFC had “willfully engaged in anticompetitive conduct to maintain or increase their market power.” On January 18, 2024, the court denied the UFC’s motion for summary judgment and set the case for trial in April 2024.
The First Settlement Offer Got Rejected
Just before trial, on March 13, 2024, the UFC agreed to settle for $335 million.
Judge Boulware rejected it. He found the amount too low, partly because the proposed deal attempted to resolve both the Le case and the separate, still-active Johnson case in a single payment — effectively asking fighters from 2017 onward to give up their own claims as part of settling a lawsuit covering a different group of fighters.
Boulware made clear he wanted to see “life changing” money go to the fighters before he’d approve anything.
The Final $375 Million Deal
On October 23, 2024, the court granted preliminary approval to a revised $375 million settlement — this time covering only the Le case, leaving Johnson v. Zuffa fully intact for separate litigation.
More than 150 fighters submitted personal statements urging the court to approve the deal quickly, citing financial hardship and long-term physical damage from their careers. Former interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin, who has said he suffers from CTE, told the court he faced serious challenges covering basic living expenses.
On February 6, 2025, Judge Boulware granted final approval to the $375 million settlement, closing a legal battle that had run for nearly 11 years. The written order confirming the approval followed on March 3, 2025.
Where the Money Actually Went
Of the approximately 1,100 to 1,200 eligible fighters in the class, more than 97% submitted claims — an unusually high participation rate for an antitrust settlement of this size.
Average payout: approximately $250,000 per fighter
Payout range: from roughly $50,000 to more than $1 million, depending on how many fights a fighter competed in during the class period and their pay level at the time
Of the $375 million total: $335 million went directly to fighters, with the remainder allocated to legal fees and settlement administration costs.
What Changed — And What Didn’t
The settlement included some non-monetary terms, including a requirement that the UFC provide written notification when a fighter’s contract is set to expire — a transparency improvement, though a modest one.
What the settlement did not do: eliminate the champion’s clause, end the matching period, or restructure how fighters are paid relative to UFC revenue. Entry-level pay remains $12,000 to show, $12,000 to win. The core contract mechanics that created the lawsuit in the first place are still standard in every UFC contract signed today.
The Fight Isn’t Over: Johnson v. Zuffa
While Le v. Zuffa is resolved, a second class action — Johnson v. Zuffa, originally filed in 2021 — covers fighters who have competed in the UFC from July 1, 2017 to the present. This case remains active and is currently in the discovery process.
In February 2026, plaintiffs in the Johnson case moved for severe sanctions, alleging that TKO Operating Co. (which now operates the UFC), along with majority owner Endeavor Group Holdings and Zuffa LLC, destroyed years of evidence relevant to the case and then worked to cover up the destruction. Plaintiffs asked the court to consider a default judgment in their favor as a result.
Two additional related lawsuits have also been filed: Cirkunovs v. Zuffa (May 2025) and Davis v. Zuffa (May 2025), both covering fighters who competed after July 1, 2017 and who had arbitration clauses or class action waivers in their contracts — provisions that weren’t present in the contracts covered by the original Johnson class.
Unlike Le, which focused on compensating fighters for past harm, the stated goal of the Johnson case is forcing structural changes to how the UFC does business going forward — the kind of change the $375 million settlement explicitly did not require.
The Bottom Line
The $375 million settlement was a historic moment for fighter compensation, and a serious one — it represented over a decade of litigation, a federal judge’s finding of willful anticompetitive conduct, and real money in the hands of more than a thousand fighters who needed it.
But it paid for the past. It didn’t change the future. The contract terms that created this lawsuit are still standard in every deal the UFC signs today — and a second case, alleging evidence destruction on top of the same underlying pay structure, is still working its way through federal court.