UFC Fighter Wins 27.5 Million in Lawsuit over Tainted Supplement

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Yoel Romero (Romero) has won $27.45 million in damages after New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carlia Brady entered a default judgment for him against Gold Star Performance Products (Gold Star). The lawsuit stems from a failed drug test by Romero in 2015 for the banned substance, Ibutamoren. This led to a six-month suspension from the UFC by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Throughout the process, Romero has maintained that the New Jersey-based supplement company misrepresented ingredients of its Shred RX …

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State Assembly Clears the Way for New York to Join the MMAdness

Following an extensive, multi-year lobbying effort, as well as numerous court battles, the New York State Assembly voted on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, to pass a bill that will make New York State the 50th and final state to legalize professional mixed martial arts (MMA). The bill effectively retools and replaces a prior regulatory scheme in New York, which allowed for professional combative  sports contests to be held in New York that were of one particular discipline, i.e., boxing, wrestling, judo, tae kwon do, …

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Antitrust Battle Between MMA Fighters and UFC Continues

On April 10, Mixed Martial Arts (“MMA”) fighters Cung Le, Jon Fitch, and Nate Quarry filed their opposition to UFC’s motion to dismiss the putative class action and to transfer the venue.

In the court documents, the fighters argued that UFC’s bid to transfer venue was improper because the suit is alleging antitrust violations, not breach of contract.  In response to the UFC’s argument that the plaintiffs did not specify “how the agreements unreasonably restrain competition,” the plaintiffs simply said, “The UFC is …

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