Back in December 2014, Cung Le, Nate Quarry, and Jon Fitch filed an antitrust lawsuit against Zuffa LLC, the then-parent company of Dana White and the UFC. They claimed that the UFC suppressed the fighters’ wages through a monopsony, employing exclusive fighter contracts, restrictive clauses, and acquisition of competitors to stay dominant over other MMA promotions and fighters. In March 2024, a proposal was put forth to settle things down by paying $335M. But later, Judge Richard Franklin Boulware II rejected it all. Upon further negotiations, both parties reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit for $375M. And now, the settlement money has returned to the headlines with Aljamain Sterling’s opinion going viral on the internet.
Yesterday, an account on X, named Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, made a declaration regarding a deadline for the fighters to claim the settlement money. The tweet read, “Fighters—the claims deadline in the Le v Zuffa (UFC) class action settlement is TOMORROW. The settlement covers all UFC bouts between Dec 16, 2010 and June 30, 2017. If you haven’t claimed —it is now your last chance! We are on track to set record for class participation.”
The attorneys broke down finances soon after Boulware approved the $375M settlement. They wrote, “Under the Settlement, Le Class members would recover (on average), after all fees and costs are deducted, $250,000. Thirty-five Class members would net over $1 million; nearly 100 fighters would net over $500,000; more than 200 fighters would recover over $250,000; over 500 fighters would net in excess of $100,000; and nearly 800 would recover over $50,000.” But who are the fighters who have already applied for or claimed the money?
MMA reporter John Morgan took to the comments section and asked if the admin of MMAFA knew about the names on the Cung Le Class list. He claimed that it’d be helpful as people can reach those fighters because the general announcements apparently missed them. MMAFA refused to publish the list of the fighters who claimed the money. But where does ‘Funk Master’ enter the scene?
Well, he happened to come across the tweet and shared his opinion on it. Reposting MMAFA’s tweet on his profile, the former bantamweight champion quoted, “If you’re a fighter that hasn’t claimed your free and extra money, with no strings attached, then you really might have a problem. ” Who doesn’t like free money! And just for context, Sterling has seven UFC fights to his name between December 2010 and June 2017. Is this his way of letting the fans know he has claimed his share of the $375M pie?
If you’re a fighter that hasn’t claimed your free and extra money, with no strings attached, then you really might have a problem. https://t.co/AFOx0ctNYb
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) June 15, 2025
The mystery around how many fighters have claimed it so far is something that continues to attract the fighting community’s attention. While the Cung Le Class rejoiced at the judge’s decision, Dana White and Company were left in utter disappointment. However, the UFC head honcho wasn’t without support. It was Ali Abdelaziz who stood in defense of White as calls continued to mount against the UFC’s business style.
MMA Manager defends Dana White from the antitrust lawsuit
During a conversation with Kevin Iole, Ali Abdelaziz made some serious allegations regarding the antitrust lawsuit against Zuffa LLC. According to Abdelaziz, the lawsuit wasn’t really designed to help the fighters. He believed that it was the practitioners of law who benefited the most. And the fighters who deserved the money were left with just scraps.
The Dagestani team’s manager said, “They [UFC officials] got played by a whole bunch of lawyers and the lawyers knew they were going to make almost $150 million, and the lawyer got paid. This was not about the fighters. It was about them getting their name out there. Because the fighters are not going to get anything.”
As Brendan Schaub previously highlighted, the settlement amount has to be divided among 800 or so fighters. Meanwhile, others like the ex-UFC heavyweight contender Ben Rothwell felt that the UFC paying up the $375M was nothing more than a backdoor deal. After all, Dana White had no option but to pay the fighters sooner or later. But seemingly, only those who put a claim on the money can receive the money. And it seems like the fighters have to do so by 16 June 2025.
What are your thoughts on Sterling’s message for the fighters? Do you think he has made his claim yet? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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