October 22, 2024
With a decision on the UFC antitrust lawsuit settlement looming Tuesday, another group of 52 fighters submitted statements in hopes of convincing the courts to approve the $375 million payout.
Judge Richard Boulware in Nevada is expected to issue a ruling soon on the preliminary settlement agreement that was submitted to settle the first UFC antitrust lawsuit that was filed all the way back in 2014. The decade-long case covered fighters who competed in the UFC from 2010 to 2017.
A second lawsuit covering fighters from 2017 to present is still working towards a potential trial date, although it’s possible a separate settlement could be reached before that happens.
The latest round of support for the settlement including a number of former UFC champions including recently retired strawweight Carla Esparza as well as former bantamweight king Renan Barao.
Perhaps the most in-depth response came from retired strawweight competitor Felice Herrig, who fought five times during the class period represented by the first UFC antitrust lawsuit. In her statement, Herrig detailed both physical and financial hardships that she’s suffered through during and after her time spent competing in the UFC.
“Fighting for the UFC was the achievement of what I thought was my dream, but the reality is after a lengthy career I left with a worn-down body, severe depression, and nothing to show for my years competing at the top of the sport,” Herrig wrote. “I still battle depression to this day and am angry that I saw so little reward for what I provided to the UFC.
“Throughout most of my UFC fight career, I was going into debt and borrowing money from family to fund fight camps and then paying off this debt with my purses. As a result of this debt, I and other peers frequently take fights while injured to pay off the debt from training camp that was already incurred. At other times, fighters are pressured to take fights on short notice or against last-minute replacement opponents who they have not prepared for and face the dilemma of taking a risky fight for little reward or enduring through a lengthy period on the shelf with no fight offered, your contract extended and no income.”
Herrig detailed her struggles with weight cutting and a number of injuries she suffered, which continued to plague her in retirement.
“Throughout my career, my ideal weight to compete at was 125 pounds, but with weight divisions in the UFC at 10-pound increments, this would have left me with the choice of fighting undersized at my natural weight or enduring grueling weight cuts to get down to 115 pounds for weigh-ins,” Herrig said. “In one instance, I was asked to do 12 hours of media obligations the day before weigh-ins while cutting weight. I was exhausted, starving, and experienced an adrenaline dump soon after my fight started that left me unable to move. I now believe that fighters promote the UFC and not vice versa—fighters are interchangeable, disposable and expendable when MMA is not operated as a sport.
“While fighting for the UFC and during my MMA career, I suffered many significant injuries including a torn ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus on my right knee. After almost a year and with my insurance coverage running out for the initial occurrence, my knee was not fully healed, but I took a fight anyway, and discovered I needed additional surgery on my meniscus. This knee continues to give me problems to this day and will require ongoing maintenance and physical therapy for the rest of my life.”
One-time UFC title challenger Jessica Eye, who retired from competition in 2022, detailed the struggles she’s faced since leaving the sport. In particular, Eye says the physical toll fighting took on her brain and body have made it that much tougher to move forward with a new career where she’s no longer getting punched in the face for a living.
“While fighting for the UFC, I suffered many significant injuries including to my left elbow which required Tommy John surgery, removal of my gall bladder which became inflamed during fight camp, kidney failure and sepsis following a grueling weight cut that caused permanent damage, and a laceration to my forehead that required 20 stitches to close,” Eye wrote. “During my career, I also suffered dozens of concussions. I fear that during my career I have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) and am noticing symptoms common with TBI and CTE including anxiety, depression, irritability, sensitivity to light, headaches and memory loss.
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The attorneys representing the fighters have now submitted more than 150 testimonials from athletes past and present in hopes of swaying the judge to approve the settlement. In the initial paperwork filed with the preliminary settlement agreement, the plaintiffs stated that the fighters involved in the $375 million settlement “would recover (on average), after all fees and costs are deducted, $250,000.”