Bellator MMA files lawsuit to block UFC’s ‘illegal scheme’

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was slapped with a class-action lawsuit back in 2014 when a handful of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters accused the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion of violating anti-trust laws.

More legalese here.

Not surprisingly, UFC is fighting back and hopes to use Bellator MMA to prove that it treats fighters the same — if not better — than competing organizations. The only way to prove that, however, is to get copies of Bellator’s financial details.

Something Scott Coker and Co. are not going to just hand over because UFC attorneys said “pretty please.”

Bellator stated in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California — in an attempt to block subpoenas from UFC — that it already "produced in excess of two thousand pages of responsive documents" pertaining to the antitrust case, according to a report from Sporting News.

And the last thing any business wants is a competitor armed with all of its trade secrets. Not only does it hurt the Viacom-owned combat sports promotion, it could also hurt the fighters, as well.

Especially during contract negotiations (like this one).

As with any lawsuit, this is likely to drag on for as long as possible (it’s already been two years and we’ve gotten nowhere), so expect to see the next update in or around 2019.