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UFC has reached a settlement agreement for a pair of antitrust lawsuits that will no longer go to trial.

On Wednesday, TKO Group Holdings ­— the parent company to the UFC — filed a disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealing that the organization had settled with the aggrieved parties in two separate lawsuits, with the company agreeing to pay out $ 335 million.

The settlement was reached this past Wednesday, according to the filing. The statement issued to the SEC is listed below.

“On March 13, 2024, TKO reached an agreement to settle all claims asserted in both class action lawsuits ([Cung] Le and [Kajan] Johnson) for an aggregate amount of $ 335 million payable by the Company and its subsidiaries in installments over an agreed-upon period of time. The terms will be memorialized in a long form agreement and then submitted to the court for approval.

“The Company anticipates that the settlement amount will be deductible for tax purposes.”

The plaintiffs in the first class action suit, Le et al. vs. Zuffa, numbered about 1,200 fighters. Experts estimated potential damages they suffered to be between $ 894 million and $ 1.6 billion, though a trial would have determined the final number.

The settlement comes after Judge Richard Boulware issued an order on Wednesday delaying the start of the upcoming trial, which was scheduled to begin on April 15. Boulware made it clear in a previous hearing that he would not postpone the start date again unless the parties involved in the case reached a resolution.

The plaintiffs in the case — from two separate lawsuits led by fighters such as Cung Le, Nate Quarry and Kajan Johnson — were in private mediation with the UFC about a potential resolution. Now, it’s confirmed that the two sides reached a settlement that will prevent the antitrust lawsuit from ever going to trial.

The Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, fronted by Rob Maysey, one of the attorneys representing the fighters in Le et al. vs. Zuffa, released a brief statement on the settlement.

We are pleased with the settlement and will disclose more when we file with the Court in 45-60 days.

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The initial antitrust lawsuit was filed all the way back in 2014, with the fighters alleging UFC engaged “in a scheme to acquire and maintain monopsony power in the market for elite professional MMA fighter services.” The fighters claimed UFC achieved that goal through three key elements: exclusive contracts, coercion, and acquisitions that eliminated potential competitors.

TKO Group Holdings previously addressed the lawsuit as the trial date grew closer while also acknowledging that talks continued about a potential resolution.

“As we’ve always said, and this is our consistent message since we started talking about this case publicly, we believe strongly that the facts and the law are on our side, and we look forward, in terms of timing, to making our arguments to a jury at trial,” TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said during a financial call in February.

“But as is typical in a case like this, we’ve been engaged in private mediation simultaneously with our trial preparation. That’s what we’re prepared to comment on at this time.”

With a settlement reached, judge Boulware will need to sign off on the settlement agreement. If confirmed, there will be no trial, and both of the antitrust lawsuits will close out.

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Ian Machado Garry’s wife Layla has had enough of the lies being spread about her husband.

Machado Garry decided to reveal — and then debunk — the three biggest lies that she has seen told about her husband in an Instagram video, and then pointed the finger at the man she believes is responsible for a lot of the misinformation, Sean Strickland.

“This tsunami of aggression towards the undefeated welterweight all exploded when former middleweight titleholder, and current multiple world bulls*** title holder Sean Strickland read a clickbait headline but didn’t bother to fact check or read the whole article,” she said in an Instagram video. “Unsurprising gullible behavior, but why would we expect anything else?”

Machado Garry revealed the three lies in the video above, which include “Ian took his wife’s ex-husband’s surname,” which she explained Machado is her maiden name before adding their names together after they were married. She then went on to send a message to those who spread, and believed that particular narrative.

“It’s not that big a deal,” she said. “Now that you know it was a lie, you can kick yourself for believing it — preferably in the face.

The second lie is that Machado Garry’s ex-husband lives with them, which she flat out said was not true, and the third was that “Ian is a cuck,” before turning her attention back to the outspoken former middleweight champion, and a man becoming one of the biggest stars in the promotion.

“Step back up Sean Strickland, a man who’s unlikely to be au fait with the Shakespearean english he unwittingly used when calling Ian a cuck. First penned in the story of Othello, the word cuckold refers to the fear of a man who’s been betrayed by his wife. Sean Strickland has been talking an awful lot about ‘Ian Garry’s wife’. I’ve been called a sexual predator … an abuser, all by the man who alleges he suffered that exact abuse as a child growing up.”

She then went in to the plot of Othello where character Lago tells Othello about his wife Desmonda’s adultery, which Othello “blindly believes the rumors,” even though Lago — as revealed in the story — was lying.

Machado Garry then compared Strickland to Lago, and the Anaheim crowd during UFC 298 fight week, where her husband picked up a split decision win over Geoff Neal, to Othello for believing Lago.

“Othello, like the crowd at UFC 298, was cruely misled by Lago’s jealousy and insecurities. Othello was never the cuckold he was called, his wife was never an adultress and, notably, when the lies were exposed, Lago was taken away to be tortured and killed. Thank you Shakespeare.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Conor McGregor’s long-awaited octagon return could be just around the corner.  The former two-division UFC champion told ESPN on Tuesday that he’ll be fighting Michael Chandler this summer.  

“”We got confirmation a few days ago that it’s all systems go,” McGregor told ESPN. “‘The Mac,’ ‘The Notorious’ will be returning to the UFC Octagon this summer.”

McGregor did not say which summer fight card he’d be fight on, but did discuss his opponent.  Chandler has been waiting for the McGregor fight since they filmed The Ultimate Fighter 31 last summer.  He appeared on WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” last month calling out McGregor and saying the two have ‘unfinished business.’  

“Shut up, Michael, you f**king imbecile,” McGregor said.  “The man doesn’t shut up. I seen him on ‘Raw.’ I like Mike but I’m going to bust him up. I’m going to bust Mike up, yeah? If I say it, I do it. If I say it, it gets done. Put that on my stone.”

McGregor returning this summer was news to Chandler and has not been confirmed by the fight promotion.  

I’m not sure I’ll be ready for a summer fight…this came out of the blue…I’ve been out of the loop. Can y’all ask Dana to confirm this,” Chandler wrote on social media.  

I’m not sure I’ll be ready for a summer fight…this came out of the blue…I’ve been out of the loop. Can y’all ask Dana to confirm this?

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) March 20, 2024

McGregor has two fights remaining on his UFC contract.  He’d like to get both of them in this year.  After his summer return against Chandler, McGregor would like to fight on the UFC 306 event at the Sphere in September.  

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Heavyweight hurter Tai Tuivasa has now dropped four straight — getting finished in all four losses — which includes his submission defeat to Polish powerhouse Marcin Tybura in the UFC Vegas 88 main event last weekend at APEX. Despite the loss, “Bam Bam” has managed to cling to a spot in the division Top 10 after this week’s official rankings update.

But not by much.

Tybura (25-8) jumped two places to pull himself into a tie with fellow heavyweight hopeful Serghei Spivac. Elsewhere on the chart, bantamweight bruiser Macy Chiasson (9-3) jumped four spots to No. 6 by strangling Swedish gunslinger Paddie Kianzad on the UFC Vegas 88 main card.

Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:

Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.

Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Leon Edwards
4. Alex Pereira
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Charles Oliveira
8. Alexander Volkanovski
9. Dricus Du Plessis
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Israel Adesanya
12. Tom Aspinall
13. Sean Strickland
14. Max Holloway
15. Aljamain Sterling

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Matheus Nicolau
6. Manel Kape
7. Muhammad Mokaev
8. Alex Perez
9. Tim Elliott
10. Steve Erceg
11. Matt Schnell
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Tatsuro Taira
14. Su Mudaerji
15. David Dvorak

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Aljamain Sterling
3. Cory Sandhagen
4. Petr Yan
5. Marlon Vera
6. Henry Cejudo
7. Song Yadong
8. Deiveson Figueiredo
9. Rob Font
10. Umar Nurmagomedov
11. Kyler Phillips +1
12. Dominick Cruz -1
13. Mario Bautista
14. Jonathan Martinez
15. Pedro Munhoz

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Ilia Topuria

1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Calvin Kattar
9. Giga Chikadze
10. Bryce Mitchell
11. Edson Barboza
12. Dan Ige
13. Sodiq Yusuff
14. Lerone Murphy
15. Alex Caceres

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Arman Tsarukyan
5. Mateusz Gamrot
6. Michael Chandler
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Dan Hooker
10. Jalin Turner
11. Benoit Saint-Denis
12. Rafael dos Anjos
13. Renato Moicano
14. Bobby Green
15. Drew Dober

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Colby Covington
5. Jack Della Maddalena
6. Gilbert Burns
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Sean Brady
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Vicente Luque
12. Neil Magny
13. Michael Page
14. Kevin Holland
15. Michael Chiesa

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Dricus Du Plessis

1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Brendan Allen
8. Nassourdine Imavov
9. (T) Roman Dolidze
9. (T) Jack Hermansson
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Anthony Hernandez
13. Paul Craig
14. Chris Curtis
15. Caio Borralho

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. Jamahal Hill
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Anthony Smith
11. Ryan Spann
12. Alonzo Menifield
13. Azamat Murzakanov
14. Dominick Reyes
15. Dustin Jacoby

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jailton Almeida
8. (T) Serghei Spivac
8. (T) Marcin Tybura +2
10. Tai Tuivasa -1
11. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
12. Derrick Lewis
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Julianna Pena
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Raquel Pennington
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Ketlen Vieira
14. Irene Aldana
15. Maycee Barber

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Yan Xiaonan
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Virna Jandiroba
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Luana Pinheiro
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Tabatha Ricci
12. Angela Hill
13. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
14. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
15. Gillian Robertson

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Maycee Barber
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Katlyn Cerminara
7. Natalia Silva
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Viviane Araújo
10. Tracy Cortez
11. Ariane Lipski
12. Karine Silva
13. Casey O’Neill
14. Miranda Maverick
15. Jasmine Jasudavicius

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Raquel Pennington

1. Julianna Pena
2. (T) Mayra Bueno Silva
2. (T) Ketlen Vieira +1
4. Irene Aldana
5. Holly Holm
6. Macy Chiasson +4
7. Miesha Tate +1
8. Karol Rosa +1
9. Pannie Kianzad -3
10. Yana Santos -3
11. Norma Dumont
12. Julia Avila
13. Chelsea Chandler +1
14. Josiane Nunes -1
15. Melissa Dixon

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the women’s flyweight division, following the UFC Vegas 89: “Ribas vs. Namajunas” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN and ESPN+, scheduled for this Sat. night (March 23, 2024) at APEX in Las Vegas.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Wednesday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time.

1 p.m. ET: Intro.

1:05 p.m.: Michael Page joins us in studio to reflect on his octagon debut at UFC 299.

2 p.m.: PFL head honcho Donn Davis reacts to the promotion’s new broadcast partner and what’s ahead.

2:30 p.m.: UFC lightweight Benoît Saint Denis reflects on his UFC 299 fight with Dustin Poirier.

3 p.m.: All your questions answered in the latest edition of On The Nose.

4:15 p.m.: Sean O’Malley coach Tim Welch breaks down UFC 299 and what’s next for the UFC bantamweight champ.

4:45 p.m.: Conor McGregor returns to the MMA Hour to talk about his new movie Road House and the latest on his comeback.

For the latest episodes of The MMA Hour, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The cringe war between welterweight standouts Colby Covington and Ian Garry continues.

The last time we checked in, ‘The Future’ had responded to Covington’s lengthy callout which featured a slew of stipulations including one requirement that Garry’s 40-year-old wife, Layla Anna-Lee, “get on her knees” and beg for a fight. Garry has since responded and somehow, managed to out-cringe Covington’s initial offering. Taking a page out of the WWF’s famed Attitude Era, Garry called for the two to compete in an ‘I Quit’ match with the loser being the man who first utters the words — you guessed it — I quit.

Ian Garry’s rebuttal was met with immediate backlash from fight fans, but it did its job in eliciting a response from Colby Covington who snapped back via a video posted on his social media channels.

Colby Covington Snaps back at Ian Garry’s ‘I Quit’ Challenge

“Greetings nerds and virgins, it’s America’s champ and as you can see, there’s nothing behind me,” Covington said. “Just like Ian Garry’s resume. We all saw your cringey a** video, Ian, and your “do what you’re told” line when you’re the A-side or Conor McGregor. Not Corner McGregor, you f*cking cuck. Ian, you said a lot of dumb sh*t, but there is one thing that I’ll agree with you on — Layla’s not a trophy. She’s a participation award at best which is fitting for your and your generation.

“You don’t dictate the terms here, cuck boy. You’re a Gen Z beta and the only time you do any dictating is when you’re on your knees for the nutritionist. You’re asking for gimmicks you don’t even comprehend, junior. An ‘I Quit’ match implies there’s no disqualification and no time limit. No commission would ever approve that. And besides, we already saw you quit in December before the press conference. You want to talk about what I’m famous for and my title fights? The only thing you’re famous for is parading around a nutritionist’s sloppy seconds like she’s Miss Universe. She’s a 4 at best”

“We all know you love to cuck it up, but you’re about to cuck your way out of this fight, junior,” Covington continued. “So here it is one last time. Agree to the stipulations. 1) Turn on the comments. 2) Record Layla begging. 3) Agree to the MyBookie promo and we got a fight. Otherwise, I’m fighting someone higher ranked this summer and you’re doing what you do best — sitting there and watching all the action.”

Whether or not we ever actually see Colby Covington and Ian Garry step inside the Octagon remains to be seen. From a rankings perspective, their meeting would undoubtedly make sense as ‘The Future’ finds himself sitting at No. 7 while ‘Chaos’ is clinging to his spot at No. 4.

Until then, we’ll wait and see what other gimmick matches Ian Garry can dust the cobwebs off of. Perhaps a good old-fashioned Boiler Room Braw. A Dumpster Match might be appropriate, or we could always give the infamous Kennel From Hell Match another shot.

How about a Layla on a Pole Match? The possibilities are endless.

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