MPO has obtained the lawsuit filed by Joshua Ramos against Dana White and UFC Holdings, LLC. The lawsuit filed in Clark County; Nevada details the sex-tape extortion hush money deal gone bad.
As was reported this past weekend, Ramos sued White and the UFC for backing out of a deal in exchange for his silence. The UFC head allegedly had sexual relations with Ramos’ girlfriend (referred to as Jane Doe), a stripper at the Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas. The lawsuit detailed that White asked his girlfriend to travel with him to Brazil for an event in October 2014.
Complaint by MMA Payout on Scribd
Ramos claimed that White paid as much as $200,000 for “entertainment” with his girlfriend prior to the trip. She then was given a first-class ticket and an expedited passport provided by the UFC to meet with White “with the expectation she would be expected to engage in sexual activity with White.” Additionally, “Whites (sic) in laws and co-owners of the UFC were accompanied by other eye candy to whom they were not married.”
The lawsuit details the payout as a result.
Ramos’ girlfriend filmed having sex with White. Although not detailed in lawsuit, its inferred that White did not know. When Ramos contacted White about the relationship, he first denied it but then when confronted with the clip arranged to meet him about it. At that time White contacted the United States Attorney General, his attorney and the UFC attorney Lawrence Epstein about an alleged extortion plot.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that Ramos was a convicted felon, a member of the Hells Angels and a pimp. Ramos alleges that despite the fact that White admitted to having sex with his girlfriend, paid her $10,000 (details state $15,000 altogether), no charges were made. Ramos claims White violated the Mann Act which is an old federal law passed in 1910 which forbids the interstate and foreign commerce of transporting women for immoral purposes. Its also known as the “White-Slave Traffic Act.”
Ramos claims that White worked with the FBI agent to frame him. Ramos negotiated a payment of $200,000 in exchange for the recording.
Notably, the US Attorney drafted a protective order effective only during the prosecution “which prevented disclosure of the name of White and also provided for the ultimate destruction of the written discovery and video at the close of the case.”
Nevada did not investigate the claimed extortion nor prosecute the extortion claim according to the lawsuit.
After the sentencing, the two parties entered into an agreement for mediation in April 2016. Ramos states that the mediator Pete Christiansen, personally knew White. Ramos claimed that his attorney indicated the amount White was prepared to settle for (in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement and destroying the sex tape) “would approach or exceed one million dollars.” Instead, White offered nothing close to the amount: $30,000.
Ramos was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for the purported extortion attempt with supervised release.
The lawsuit alleges the UFC and White breached a contract, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, tortious breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and unjust enrichment.
Payout Perspective:
Reading the facts from Ramos side of the story, it sounds like a quid pro quo gone wrong for the plaintiff. In exchange for handing over the sex-tape, he would be compensated. But since he was charged with a crime in attempting to extort money from White, the UFC head was not going to comply. Also, there seems to be an inference that the Attorney General worked in concert with White in the sting for extortion. Yet, the state of Nevada did not investigate the extortion claim. Moreover, no charges were filed against White. The civil lawsuit is interesting because its premised upon a hush money agreement that went awry. Its hard to fathom that this case is not dismissed. While there are issues about White’s use of the UFC (notably the expediting of passports) and how White may have paid women to travel with him, its not necessarily illegal. It could be that he was outside of the scope of his role as UFC head for his personal use but there is no evidence that he broke any laws. MMA Payout will continue to follow.
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