Former Fighters Davis, Cirkunov File Antitrust Lawsuits Against UFC

Boom!

Another antitrust class action drops against the UFC

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By Phil Davis.

Alleging fighters not under contract with them are harmed by their monopoly stranglehold.

Change is coming. pic.twitter.com/zY02uq4KM1

— Erik Magraken (@erikmagraken) May 30, 2025

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going to have to start paying its attorneys overtime at this rate.

On Friday, news broke that Phil Davis, on behalf of himself and other fighters in his class, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the UFC in the U.S. District Court in Nevada. Davis is represented by the law firm of Berger Montague, which recently settled one antitrust case with the promotion for $375 million, with those funds paid to the fighters. It also represents the suit helmed by Kajan Johnson, repping another class of fighters similar to the settled case involving Cung Le.

While those class action suits sought monetary damages, the goals of Davis et al. are to change the nature of contracts in which the UFC retains its fighters. If successful, the plaintiffs seek to allow fighters to terminate their contracts with an organization after one year. The claim is that the UFC has established an unfair marketplace that prohibits other companies from attracting top-tier competitors. Additionally, the suit alleges that even fighters not under the UFC umbrella are harmed as a result of the UFC’s anticompetitive approach.

In a press release, attorney Eric Cramer put out a statement arguing that the UFC acted in a predatory manner to discourage competition and trap fighters in unlawful contracts.

“The suit alleges the UFC impairs the ability of would-be UFC competitors to attract a critical mass of top-level MMA fighters necessary to compete with the UFC at the top tier of the sport,” wrote Cramer.

He continued, “We intend to prove that the UFC engaged in a predatory scheme to undermine would-be competitors to the UFC, which the suit claims had the effect of maintaining and enhancing the UFC’s dominance, and therefore impairing the careers and pay not just of the UFC’s own fighters, but also of professional MMA fighters like Mr. Davis competing for MMA promotions across the MMA industry.”

Additionally, as reported by MMAFighting on Friday, Misha Cirkunov filed an antitrust lawsuit on behalf of himself and other fighters with the goal of representing fighters with contracts holding arbitration clauses or other waivers. These contracts, the firm stated in the suit, delay fighters from ending their contracts or unlawfully waive their right to be involved in class actions against the promotion.

According to MMAFighting, the second suit reads:

“…In order to a) avoid unnecessary delay in Johnson [class action suit], b) ensure the invalidity and unenforceability of UFC Fighters’ arbitration agreements and class action waivers may be adjudicated, Misha Cirkunov brings this case on behalf of those UFC Fighters, like himself, who fought in a bout promoted by the UFC from July 1, 2017 until the illicit scheme herein ceases, and who signed a contract with Zuffa LLC that contained a clause purporting to require disputes between the fighter and Zuffa to be submitted to individual arbitration and/or a clause purporting to waive any right to participate in a class action.”