Former UFC welterweight Jon Fitch is still in the middle of a legal battle with UFC’s parent company Zuffa. The class action lawsuit is reaching ten months now, but Fitch is still determined to win the case.
Fitch says Zuffa is an illegal monopoly, and claims there are documents that prove the UFC engages in practices that are anti-competitive and discourage competition. Zuffa feels different and says they operate in a lawful manner.
“We want to put pressure on them to make them change, because if they don’t, in four years, there will just be another suit filed,” Fitch (26-7-1), who next fights. This will be an ongoing thing forever and ever.
“I think there would be quite a large gap in what they’re saying that they’re paying people and what they’re actually making, and just the things that they do that we kind of know of with how they treat fighters and the type of pressure they put on people that I don’t really think is legal.
“Ultimately, the end game here is to open up the market,” he added. “We want them to open up their contracts, and we want other entities that have big money to come in and put on big shows because they can afford it. Back when Mark Cuban was trying to get into the sport, and he wanted to do Randy Couture and Fedor (Emelianenko), well, that would have been a huge card and made a lot money. But because of the way contracts are, it didn’t happen.” — MMAJunkie
Related: Jon Fitch: Wouldn’t Be Surprised If UFC Starts Putting On Fake, Worked Fights
Fitch’s next fight is against Yushin Okami (30-9) at WSOF 24.
