UFC and President Dana White’s acting law firm are looking for Mark Hunt’s lawsuit to be thrown out of court, disputing allegations made by the heavyweight.
MMA Junkie reports that Campbell and Williams are the Las Vegas-based law firm alleging Hunt’s claims fail when establishing a link “between the injury asserted and the purported injurious conduct” and baselessly attack White with an “utter dearth of specific allegations,”. A 26-page motion to dismiss was filed on Monday in in U.S. District Court Nevada.
The UFC and White had been expected to submit a motion to dismiss, despite news that if Hunt’s claims are proven in court, they could pay triple. Hunt’s legal team have reportedly made it known that they are willing to drop the case if an offer to settle is received.
Hunt is looking for financial compensation following allegations that Brock Lesnar (who failed drug tests both before and after their fight at UFC 200) and Dana White conspired to ensure Lesnar won their fight last year, employing nefarious tactics. Lesnar was subsequently suspended for one year by USADA, and his win was overturned. The WWE wrestler recently retired from MMA, and his appearance at UFC 200 looks to be his last. Hunt’s claim reads:
“UFC and its agents have affirmatively circumvented and obstructed fair competition for their own benefit, including being complicit in doping proliferation under the guise of advancing ‘the best anti-doping program in all of professional sports.’”
A response from the UFC and white rubbishes Hunt’s lawsuit as “not a model of clarity” claiming that he ignores “the inconvenient fact that the strict anti-doping drug-testing procedures implemented by Zuffa and administered by the independent USADA are the vehicle by which cheating fighters have been exposed and punished.”
“While it is undisputedly Zuffa’s goal and desire that all its contracted athletes comply with the ADP and applicable laws governing prohibited substances, the contractual obligation Hunt seeks to impose – whether as an express or implied term – is obviously impossible for Zuffa to perform as it has no ability to control what any given fighter is going to put into his or her body except by way of establishing a set of rules that (i) prohibits the taking of banned substances, and (ii) imposes penalties for established violations thereof. Zuffa has done that.”
Mark Hunt will fight Alistair Overeem on Saturday at UFC 209, despite the ongoing legal proceedings.
