UFC President and CEO Dana White has made something of a shocking revelation regarding the judge overseeing the promotion’s antitrust case: the pair attended high school together.
White, who has led the UFC since Zuffa purchased the promotion in 2001 (later selling to Endeavor, with the company now housed under the TKO Group banner alongside WWE), revealed the news to combat sports reporter Kevin Iole.
Judge Richard Franklin Boulware II recently denied a settlement the promotion had agreed to, to the tune of $335 million dollars, to put a pair of class action lawsuits from former fighters to rest. The lawsuits, which would head to court separately but were lumped into the same settlement, allege the UFC used unfair business practices and abused its power as a monsopony (meaning, the UFC was the only real buyer in the MMA market during the period covered by the lawsuits) to artificially constrain fighter pay.
The original case, sparked by former stars Cung Le, Jon Fitch, and Nate Quarry, dates back a decade. Throughout a lengthy court process, White has uncharacteristically remained mum on the matter, though some of his more notorious moments, including “PRIDE is dead, dummy, I killed them” and the “tombstone” photo were introduced during the disclosure phase.
“I’ve literally said this the entire time through this whole thing, it’s not something that I focus on, or, let the lawyers deal with that stuff,” White explained when speaking to Kevin Iole in an interview posted to Youtube on Sunday (conducted on Friday). “Let me say this, it’s probably the only thing I’ve said since this whole thing’s been going on — it’s getting to a point now where this feels personal.
“You know I went to high school with this guy? Me and Lorenzo [Fertitta] went to high school with him. I don’t know what the hell me or Lorenzo did to him in high school, but this seems very, very personal. Yeah, we went to high school with this guy.”
Asked if he had beat up or bullied Boulware in their high school days, White replied saying “I don’t think so. I don’t think I did anything to this guy. Yeah, I don’t know what the hell happened. But there’s no doubt in my mind that this feels absolutely personal, and whatever it is with this guy, we’ll let the lawyers deal with it. It is what it is.”
If the UFC fails to reach a new settlement, which the plaintiffs have signaled they are open to, the case will head to trial, with a tentative date selected for October.
