14 Key Details About The Class Action Lawsuit Against UFC

3. Dana White's Ego And Attitude Provided Ample Ammunition For The Lawsuit

Maybe appearing with a mock tombstone that featured the names of rival promotions and dates you killed them off wasn't such a great idea after all, Dana. That's just one of the examples the lawsuit provides to show how the UFC and Zuffa not only took part in anti-competitive practices, but reveled in them. Dana White did this back in 2008, but by 2012, he hadn't learned his lesson, tweeting the following to a fan:

The complaint includes both these images, and the following Dana White quote from an interview with MMA Junkie, among others:

There was a time when it was neck and neck. That time is over. There were times when we were in dog fights,but everybody needs to just concede and realize we€™re the NFL. Period. End of story.

White's analogy in that last quote is problematic in the context of this case, because unlike in the NFL, fighters in the UFC don't have teams actively competing for their services. You take the contract the UFC offers you, or you don't fight for the world's biggest MMA promotion. It's why Ben Askren is making "okay" money in ONE FC. Maybe his most damning statement came in 2010, as according to the suit, White stated:

There is no competition . We€™re the NFL. You don€™t see people looking at the NFL and going, €˜Yeah, but he€™s not the best player in the world because there€™s a guy playing for the Canadian Football League or the Arena League over here.€™ We€™re the NFL. There is no other guy.

White will no doubt claim he was talking up his promotion, something promoter's do - so it will come down to whether the company's actions behind the scenes match its words, or whether it was in fact all bluster.