On Thursday, May 30, 2025, Berger Montague, a civil law firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and mixed martial artist Phil Davis filed an antitrust class-action lawsuit against Endeavor Group Holdings, Zuffa LLC, and UFC’s parent company, TKO Holdings. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of upholding an “allegedly illegal scheme” that has fostered an unfair marketplace for mixed martial artists by hindering non-UFC promotions from signing top-level talent.
“The suit alleges the UFC impairs the ability of would-be UFC competitors to attract a critical mass of top-level MMA fighters necessary to compete with the UFC at the top tier of the sport,” said Berger Montague Chairman Eric Cramer. “We intend to prove that the UFC engaged in a predatory scheme to undermine would-be competitors to the UFC, which the suit claims had the effect of maintaining and enhancing the UFC’s dominance, and thereby impairing the careers and pay not just of the UFC’s own fighters, but also of professional MMA fighters like Mr. Davis competing for MMA promotions across the MMA industry.”
Davis, Cramer, and Berger Montague hope to terminate a promotion’s ability to implement restrictive contract clauses and empower fighters to terminate their contracts without penalty after one year. Davis and Berger Montague’s lawsuit is filed on the heels of a similar lawsuit brought forth by former UFC light heavyweight Misha Cirkunov in May 2025. Berger Montague also reportedly reached a $375 million settlement with TKO Holdings in 2024. Dating back more than a decade, the lawsuit accused Zuffa and other relevant parties of gaining an unfair advantage by violating antitrust laws by paying UFC fighters less than they were entitled to.
