Judge disqualifies 13 witnesses from testifying in upcoming UFC antitrust trial

With the UFC’s antitrust trial date quickly approaching on April 15, Judge Richard F. Boulware ruled on several motions in the case in a Nevada courtroom on Monday including 13 witnesses that were potentially being called to testify on behalf of the promotion.

The fighters on the list included UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Chael Sonnen, Miesha Tate and Michael Chandler as well as prominent managers such as Ali Abdelaziz, Dan Lambert from American Top Team and Iridium Sports Agency CEO Jason House.

It turns out none of them will be allowed to testify at the trial after Judge Boulware granted the plaintiff’s motion to exclude the 13 named witnesses, which included the fighters, managers and even current UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard. Paul Gift initially reported the news on Twitter.

The plaintiff’s attorneys had argued that the witness list was not disclosed ahead of time to allow for depositions to be taken long before trial began.

Despite objections from the UFC’s legal team, Judge Boulware ultimately ruled that the 13 witnesses would not be allowed to testify at trial because they were not properly disclosed in time.

During the hearing, Judge Boulware also acknowledged that the UFC and the plaintiffs remain in discussions about a possible resolution before going to trial. No agreements have been made yet, but both sides are still in mediation.

After numerous delays in setting a trial date, Judge Boulware ordered that there would be no further extensions unless the two sides reached a resolution ahead of the April 15 date. Otherwise, the trial would start as ordered on April 15.

At the heart of the antitrust lawsuit, the fighters involved claimed that the UFC engaged “in a scheme to acquire and maintain monopsony power in the market for elite professional MMA fighter services.” They claim UFC used three components to achieve this goal, including acquisitions, exclusive contracts, and coercion.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages between $894 million and $1.6 billion.

Meanwhile, the current UFC owners at TKO Group Holdings addressed the upcoming trial in the antitrust lawsuit during a quarterly financial meeting with investors.

“As we’ve always said, and this is our consistent message since we started talking about this case publicly, we believe strongly that the facts and the law are on our side, and we look forward, in terms of timing, to making our arguments to a jury at trial,” TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said during the call.

“But as is typical in a case like this, we’ve been engaged in private mediation simultaneously with our trial preparation. That’s what we’re prepared to comment on at this time.”