Not long after scoring legal settlements against illegal downloaders and online streamers of Pay-Per-View broadcasts the Ultimate Fighting Championship is now battling fellow mixed martial arts promotion, Bellator Fighting Championships, on another legal front for theft of trade secrets, according to a report by Yahoo Sports.
The lawsuit was filed by the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, LLC, against Bellator as well as MMA fighters agent, Ken Pavia, in a Clark County District Court on Wednesday and alleges that Pavia shared UFC contracts between his fighters and the UFC with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney:
“The improper disclosure of Zuffa’s operations documents and confidential information by Pavia, MMA Agents, and the Doe and Roe Defendants constitutes a distinct act of dominion wrongfully exerted over Zuffa’s personal property.”
Naturally, fight contracts between the UFC and any signed fighters are confidential and cannot be shared with third parties. The UFC had evidence in form of email communication between Rebney and Pavia indicating that UFC contracts were used as blueprint for Bellator's business model and fight contracts after Pavia passed them on to Rebney.
While the UFC's rights might have indeed been violated by Pavia and Rebney, this lawsuit could also give fans the impression that the UFC is regarding the only one-year old promotion, Bellator, as serious threat. Although Zuffa is seeking punitive and actual damages from both parties, this legal proceeding might in fact do more damage to the UFC's perceived superior status in the MMA sphere than the use of the contracts ever could have done. Naturally, all eyes will be on Bellator now while elevating it to 'contender' status for the UFC.
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Comments
Zuffa sues someone, and you cover the hell out of it. Mikey Burnett tries to get zuffa to pay its medical bills, and you don't even know about it.
"Trade secrets"? The secret is become the wwe. What a joke zuffa is.
Armed, I'm sorry you take offense with this topic.
Did Mikey Burnett file a law suit? If not, I have no way of accessing any information concerning his medical bills or any other communication between him and Zuffa, LLC.
Lawsuits, on the other hand, are public record which makes it possible for me to write about it.
It was actually a fighter contract agreement that was going to be significantly changed? Sounds like a totally different document to me. Does it say in the UFC agreement that all figters and agents have to keep it 100% confidental? Was the new agreement actually ever used? I'd like to see the before and after. After being a sports agent for years has Rebney never come across a UFC fighter contract before this? Dana White is hanging onto the UFC like a fat kid hanging onto an ice creme cone. Let it go Dana. The only thing UFC has on Bellator or any other of these mma organizations is that it was first and has been along longer. Fans know the UFC brand. Dana White is succesfully driving the UFC brand into the ground. He would do better to step down and let professionals run his organization.
i think bellator will be ok theyre not some ufc knock off theyre their own thing i was wondering when ufc was going to attack them i think theyre better off than strikeforce
Interesting that this story hit the media BEFORE Bellator and Pavia were even served. Looks like Dana White is looking for some publicity.
The suit itself smacks of the big guy trying to squash competition. Bellator has been well-received (and doesn't charge to watch its televised bouts; ZUFFA's are PPV and expensive) and Pavia's MMAAgents has 50+ fighters in its roster.
I predict this suit will come to nought. Most docs for these organizations are prettty much boilerplate, with minor changes.
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