Written by Rick Snavely at MMA Manifesto
Yesterday, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission has closed their investigation on the UFC for the time being. This comes almost a year after a team of current and ex-UFC fighters filed a class action lawsuit against the UFC alleging antitrust practices by the company (and/or its partners).
The closure comes as no real surprise. The FTC investigated the UFC four years ago on the heels of the fight promotion’s acquisition of Strikeforce, a move that followed the UFC’s acquisition of Pride FC, WEC, and other fight promotions. That investigation probed the UFC on suspicion of monopolistic and deceptive business practices, but it was halted upon a lack of sufficient evidence.
The UFC have won the battle in regards to the FTC. But, they are still in a position to lose the war in regards to the ongoing class action lawsuit filed by members of the MMA Fighters Association. The most recent proceedings require the UFC to hand over their books, copies of corporate emails, and other business-related documents to the fighters and their lawyers so that they can substantiate their own claim against the UFC’s practices. Bloody Elbow’s Paul Gift has been closely following the case and has been present for many of the case’s court dates. He’s compiled an excellent list of the requested/reviewable documents here (from “Organizational Charts,” on), along with a brief explanation of how the documents will be handled in relation to the case.
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