Judge cancels TKO Group £262m settlement: On Thursday, a Nevada district court judge rejected a £262m ($335m) TKO’s settlement offer with former fighters in a lawsuit and the company has criticized the judge for such actions.
This £262m ($335m) settlement was accepted by the TKO group in March in two lawsuits brought by about 1,200 former UFC athletes.
The settlement was denied by Nevada Judge Richard Boulware of U.S. District court.
In a statement, this afternoon the company said, “ We disagree with this ruling and believe it disregards the expertise of counsel from both sides as well as that of an accomplished and expert mediator—all of whom have decades of experience in antitrust case law.”
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It further added that it believes the $335 million settlement which was announced in the spring is best for the former fighters.
The company also added, “As we have said throughout this process, we believe strongly in the merits of our cases and are evaluating all our options, including, without limitation, an appeal, and have initiated discussions with plaintiffs’ counsel who have expressed a willingness to engage in separate settlement discussions for the Le and Johnson cases.”
The TKO group further said, while addressing the decision of the Judge Richard Boulware, “Additionally, by taking the unusual step of denying the settlement at this preliminary approval stage, the Judge is also denying the athletes their right to be heard during this pivotal moment in the case.”
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The former fighter claimed that the UFC’s contracts restricted them from taking any other promotional deals.
The TKO is accused of two lawsuits, one of which was filed by fighters Cung Le and Nate Quarry in 2014, and acting on behalf of all the fighters from 2010 to 2017 while the other lawsuit was filed by fighters like Kajan Johnson representing fighters from 2017 to the present.
Earlier, the judge said that the amount of the deal was too low.
However, both parties have reached a joint agreement and the first lawsuit will begin on October 28. In both lawsuits, the party of the former fighters is willing to “re-engage” with the UFC to reach a new settlement or continue with the trial.
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