The UFC has criticized a judge who rejected a financial settlement previously agreed upon with former fighters.
In March, the UFC’s parent company, TKO Group, reached a £262 million ($335 million) settlement in two lawsuits involving approximately 1,200 former UFC athletes.
The fighters alleged that UFC contracts restricted their ability to negotiate other promotional opportunities.
However, earlier this week, Judge Richard Boulware in Nevada declined to accept the settlement and set a tentative trial date for October.
“We obviously disagree with this ruling,” the UFC said.
“As we have said throughout this process, we believe strongly in the merits of our cases and are evaluating all our options, including, without limitation, an appeal, and have initiated discussions with plaintiffs’ counsel who have expressed a willingness to engage in separate settlement discussions for the Le and Johnson cases.”
There are two distinct lawsuits: one filed by fighters Cung Le and Nate Quarry in 2014, representing fighters from 2010 to 2017, and another filed by fighters like Kajan Johnson, covering those from 2017 to the present.
The UFC had previously reached a joint settlement for both cases, with the first lawsuit potentially starting on October 28.
Plaintiffs in both cases have indicated they are open to either negotiating a new settlement with the UFC or proceeding with the trial.
The judge had previously expressed concerns that the settlement amount was too low.
In 2023, the UFC merged with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to form the TKO Group.