SAN JOSE, Dec. 23rd, 2014 — Last week we learned of a class action lawsuit launched by attorneys representing Cung Le, Nate Quarry and Jon Fartch against the UFC for making it nearly impossible to earn a living outside of the UFC. That suit claimed that the UFC had resorted to business practices that left the industry bowing at Dana White’s throwback high tops and Roots of Fight t-shirts, leaving fighters with very little options outside of the UFC.
Last night we learned that two additional fighters have launched a similar suit against the UFC with the same team of lawyers, one being Dennis Hallman, who was famously chastised by UFC President Dana White for donning a speedo in the ring, which gave us all a brief televised tea-bagging. Dana White imposed a tea-bagging of his own after Hallman lost, paying his opponent, Brian Ebersole, a whopping $70,000 bonus for defeating Hallman.
While I may be no lawyer, I have read enough Wikipedia to be able to tell you that in lawsuits such as these, topical stories such as discrimination against Hallman’s choice of work-appropriate wardrobe would be enough to sway a jury in favor of those filing the lawsuit [note: find the name]. Word is on the street that the team behind these lawsuits are petitioning everyone in the field of Mixed Martial Arts through private channels and working up a massive, 450,000-strong lawsuit against the UFC.
Literally just about everyone who cares about MMA will be allowed to take part in this class action suit against the UFC, with many fans upset about the UFC monopolizing (or monopsolizing, not sure yet) their Saturday evenings with nearly-endless marathon fight cards. The punishment for missing such a fight card could not only lead to the scorn and derision of your fellow fight fans, but to expletive-laden verbal smackdowns courtesy of Dana White in one of his famous backstage interviews with the King of the MMA Media, Sir Ariel of Helwani. There is no insult worse to the fight fan than Dana White postulating that they are not “real fucking fight fans” while Helwani models the latest multi-colored sneakers in his collection. That, my friends, is why this journalist has an ongoing subscription to UFC’s Fight Pass, costing me literally over $100 thus far to be a “real fucking fight fan.”
Still no official word from Dana White or Kelly Slater in regards to this latest development. More on this story as it develops.
