During the past week four more ex-UFC fighters have filed a class action anti-trust lawsuit against the promotions parent company, Zuffa.
Joining the original lawsuit which was fronted by Cung Le, Nate Quarry and Jon Fitch are Dennis Hallman and Javier Vasquez followed by Brandon Vera and Pablo Garza.
The two pairs of fighters have filed their own separate lawsuits, but they are all represented by the same legal groups, “Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc, Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, and the Law Office of Frederick S. Schwartz.”
As with the original lawsuit the main thrust of the argument here is that the UFC are essentially “monopolizing” the sport, restricting the fighters opportunities to earn money in the process.
Of the four new additions Vera is the best known. He fought for the UFC over a period of eight years, producing an 8-7 (1nc) record. He was released from the promotion earlier this year and has since signed for ONE FC, successfully making his debut with a first round soccer kick knockout earlier this month.
Javier Vasquez is a retired fighter who only fought once for the UFC, defeating Joe ‘Daddy’ Stevenson, but he did also fight five times for the Zuffa owned WEC promotion too, going 2-3.
A man of many promotions, Dennis Hallman has had numerous stints in the UFC over the years, dating back as far as 2000 when he defeated Matt Hughes. He’s stepped foot in the Octagon eight times in total, going 4-4 in the process.
Finally, Pablo Garza had a two and a half year run in the UFC, going 3-3, and also had one fight for the WEC promotion. The 31 year-old hasn’t fought since being released from the UFC back in April after a loss to Diego Brandao.
There’s a good chance that other disgruntled former UFC fighters will join the lawsuit in the coming months, though not everyone wants to get involved with Tito Ortiz being the most high profile so far to reveal that he turned down the opportunity to take action against his former employer.
