September 2, 2025
A Nevada federal judge has rejected Ultimate Fighting Championship’s motion seeking to deny class certification for fighters suing it over alleged suppressed wages, saying the request is premature.
UFC argued that the plaintiffs — Kajan Johnson, Clarence Dollaway and Tristan Connelly — cannot serve as class representatives because they did not sign the arbitration agreements or class action waivers that the majority of fighters in the proposed class have signed.
“But plaintiffs are currently challenging these provisions as unconscionable,” U.S. District Judge Richard F. Boulware said in a Friday minute order. “Were the court to agree, Zuffa’s objection would be moot.”
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The fighters and proposed class are represented by Eric L. Cramer, Michael Dell’Angelo, Patrick F. Madden, Robert Maysey and Joshua P. Davis of Berger Montague, Joseph R. Saveri, Kevin E. Rayhill and Chris Young of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm LLP, Richard A. Koffman, Benjamin D. Brown and Daniel H. Silverman of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, and W. Joseph Bruckner, Kyle Pozan and Brian Clark of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP.
Read Court Denies UFC’s Attempt to Block Fighters’ Class Cert..