Hearing Friday could decide Zuffa Antitrust case

The Zuffa Antitrust lawsuit may come to a head tomorrow as a federal court in Nevada will hear Zuffa’s Motion to Dismiss which could end the lawsuit brought by former UFC fighters against the organization.

The Motion to Dismiss was filed by Zuffa lawyers when the lawsuit was venued in Northern California.  The original date for the Motion to Dismiss was in late July.  However, when the federal court in San Jose transferred the case to Las Vegas, the dates were continued.

A summary of pleadings are below:

Zuffa’s Motion to Dismiss

Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Zuffa’s Motion to Dismiss

Zuffa’s Reply Brief

However, if you want to read them in full, you can find them here as well:

Zuffa Motion to Dismiss

Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Reply Brief – Motion to Dismiss

Payout Perspective:

It’s hard to fathom that Judge Richard Boulware, the presiding judge assigned to the case in Nevada, will dismiss this lawsuit.  More likely, if Judge Boulware determines that the Complaint filed by the former UFC fighters is insufficient, he may allow them to “Leave to Amend the Complaint.”  Essentially, he would grant them time to amend their complaint so that it would conform to the rules outlined in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal.  With a discovery fight over the documents on the horizon, we could see the court allowing the lawsuit to continue so that the Plaintiffs will have an opportunity to make their case.  It would still leave open the opportunity for Zuffa to file a Motion for Summary Judgment which would dismiss the case short of having to go to trial.  Of course, this would mean time and expense for Zuffa’s lawyers as they hope to do away with the lawsuit through this motion.  In the end, even if the court were to flat out dismiss the plaintiffs, they would still have an opportunity to appeal the decision.

MMA Payout will keep you posted.