UFC veteran Tom Lawlor was one of roughly 10 in attendance to cover the latest developments in the UFC antitrust lawsuit.
The lawsuit settled for $375 million in the Le vs. Zuffa case on Tuesday and 11-fight UFC veteran Lawlor broke down all the pivotal information on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
“This has been a monumental case if people have followed it over the last 10 years,” Lawlor said. “A lot of people did not think there was any skin in this case, that it wouldn’t even reach this far. The fact that it has now become one of the biggest antitrust settlements in U.S. history is a testament to not only the work of the plaintiffs, the fighters, the lawyers, but also the work that the fighters themselves put in over the years to really make the UFC the No. 1 leader — co-leader — in this sport.”
The Le vs. Zuffa case is one of two UFC antitrust cases currently active. It covers fighters who passed through the UFC from 2010 to 2017, while the second case — fronted by UFC veteran Kajan Johnson — covers fighters who competed from 2017 onward. Both cases center around the accusations that the UFC suppressed fighter wages through a scheme to acquire and maintain monopsony power within the mixed martial arts industry. The Johnson case has no trial date yet set.
Had the UFC not settled Le vs. Zuffa, a trial date was set for Feb. 3, which could have resulted in liability in the billions.
A sum of $375 million is the new settlement agreed upon to cover just the Le vs. Zuffa portion. A previous settlement agreement of $335 million was rejected by Judge Richard Franklin Boulware II after he felt it was “too favorable” for the UFC. This new settlement was proposed to Boulware in September.
“The fighters in the Johnson case, there’s still the ability that there’s some contractual changes there,” Lawlor explained. “So, I’ve seen a lot of people being upset about the money number, and they need to realize this is just one half of the lawsuit and there’s still a lot to come.
“Now, out of the $375 million that was agreed upon, $115 million goes to the lawyer fees, and from what I understand, that’s about standard in a case like this. The lawyers on the plaintiff side have been putting in work for about 10 years, and I don’t know how many people that exactly is, I don’t know how many people are on staff at the law firms, but they’ve put in a considerable amount of work. I don’t know if it’s $115 million worth, but that’s up for Judge Boulware to decide at the final settlement hearing.”
Lawlor stated that roughly $260 million is left for about 1,214 fighters involved in the case window. There’s a lot of sorting out that will have to be done to get definitive numbers.
With so many names involved, not all will receive their pieces of the pie for one reason or another.
“There’s going to be some fighters who have unfortunately passed away during that time,” Lawlor said. “There are some fighters, quite frankly, you can’t get ahold of them. You’re not going to be able to find them and they’re not going to claim the money. And there are still some fighters that don’t even know this lawsuit has been going on.
“I’ve been contacted by multiple people so far, saying how skeptical they are that anything is going to go down with this lawsuit still.”
Doing rough math to average out what everyone gets in this equation is the simple way to do things. That isn’t going to be the process, though.
Lawlor noted that a specific formula will be utilized. In a sense, it can be equated to the age-old saying, “the rich get richer.” The poor don’t necessarily get poorer, but just not as rich as the bigger puzzle pieces throughout the years.
“The top-level fighters who made the most money are going to get the most money from this settlement,” Lawlor said. “I believe it’s around $15,000 per fight per fighter. So, if you had two fights in the UFC and you lost them both then you were cut, you’re maybe looking at $30,000 coming your way. On top of that, 30 percent of your estimated earnings over the course of time will be given to you.
“For someone like me, I’ve done the math, I don’t know if my math’s right, but I believe I’m one of the 500 fighters who will be getting over $100,000 from this.”
The initial settlement reached in March was met with mixed reactions throughout the MMA community. It was a win to some degree, of course, but felt like nothing more than a blip on the UFC’s radar.
Lawlor wasn’t so sure himself at first. But the more he’s listened to the case’s lawyer, Eric Cramer, the clearer the picture has been painted.
“What [Cramer] mentioned was that they used the data from economists throughout the pre-trial hearings, right?” Lawlor said. “We’ve heard estimates of up to $1.6 billion on the high end and about $800 million on the low end [from] economist Hal Singer. And that could end up being with damages if it went to court trial and the plaintiffs won, that could be like $6 billion that TKO would be on the hook for.
“Cramer mentioned that one of the reasons they were happy with this money number was that they went by the data given by the economist Andrew Zimbalist and what he said was he estimated $981 million in damages from December 2010 until December 2016. So, a similar timeframe to what was settled here. The $981 million if you do the math, Cramer said it was something like 40 percent. It’s a little bit under that but essentially that falls in line with wage share in NBA, NHL, those sorts of organizations.
“When I look at it for my career, if this went to trial, I don’t know if the fighters ever get anything because even if TKO-Zuffa lost this, there’s a course of appeals, it could go up,” he continued. “We just saw the DirecTV [case], some big-ticket court case get shut down after the plaintiffs won. So, in my mind, there was no guarantee that I would ever see a dime during my lifetime unless there was a settlement. So, I guess I’m happy.”
Lawlor, 41, entered the UFC through “The Ultimate Fighter” season eight two years before the lawsuit’s window. He left the company in 2016 and has fought thrice since, going 1-2. Lawlor’s primary focus as a performer in recent years has been in the pro wrestling ring.
Based on his fight career, Lawlor believes he could expect maybe $115,000 more. He would have taken heights of $1 million if that was possible, but admits the promotion likely didn’t make that much off him. Insisting that there are no ulterior motives or vendettas, Lawlor just wants to see his fellow fighters get what they deserve.
The next steps include a 30-day wait period where fighters can dispute anything to their dismay in the lawsuit via a letter received in the mail. Lawlor also pointed out the UFC Class Action lawsuit website, which should provide all that’s needed.
Ultimately, the UFC is believed to be required to put the money in escrow by June’s end. Whether or not it will eventually be dispersed in a lump sum or small monthly payments is unknown. Regarding the Johnson vs. Zuffa case, Lawlor doesn’t expect that one to take too much longer now and added how Judge Boulware specified that fighters involved in both will be able to collect from both.
“We’re not over the finish line as far as fighters go,” Lawlor said. “We’re inching there.”
