Ex UFC fighters Phil Davis and Misha Cirkunov file an antitrust lawsuit against UFC

The lawyer who handled the recent UFC fighters class action lawsuit announced recently that he has joined Phil Davis in alleging fighters not under contract with them are harmed by their monopoly stranglehold.  Phil Davis broke the news on behalf of himself and other fighters in his class by filing an antitrust lawsuit against the UFC in the US District court of Nevada.  Davis is represented by the law firm of Berger Montague which settled the recent antitrust case with the UFC for 375 Million, with those fighters still expecting to be paid from the settlement.

The previous class action suits sought monetary damages, while it appears the goal of Phil Davis is to change the restrictive wording in the UFC contracts and if he is successful would allow fighters to terminate their contracts with the organization after only 1 year.  The argument is that th eUFC has established an unfair marketplace that prohibits other companies from signing to tier competitors. The most recent lawsuit claims fighters not under a UFC contract are effectively hurt as a result of the UFC’s Anticompetitive actions.

In a press release Eric Cramer made a compelling argument that hte UFC acted in a predatory manner to discourage competition and trap fighters in unlawful contracts. Cramer went on to say “We intend to prove that hte UFC engaged in predatory scheme to undermine would-be competitors to the UFC, which the suit claims had the effect of maintaining and enhancing the UF’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.”

Misha Cirkunov filed an antitrust lawsuit with the goal of adding fighters who have contracts holding arbitration clauses or other waivers.  D you think Fighters deserve more defined rights in promotional bout agreements?  Do you think we could see the inclusion of MMA into the Muhammad Ali Act?