Judge warns missing cell phones and records represent ‘sanctionable offenses’ in latest UFC anti-trust case
UFC presidents Dana White and Hunter Campbell were in a Nevada courtroom last week, answering questions about the lack of disclosure materials they were handed over. Another series of antitrust lawsuits It was started by warriors.
Just like against Le Zuffa, which resulted in fighters from 2012 to 2017 $375 million deal —Johnson v. Zuffa accuses the UFC of using its monopoly power to artificially lower fighter salaries, this time starting in 2017. Cirkunov v. Zuffa announced that the UFC fighters who signed the contract class action arbitration provisions Johnson v. He should still be able to participate in the Zuffa case and Davis v. Zuffa represents fighters outside the UFC who claim they have been harmed by the UFC’s anti-competitive conduct.
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All of these antitrust cases are being handled together by Judge Richard Boulware, the same judge who oversaw the resolution of the Le-Zuffa case. Years of communications between White, Campbell and UFC attorney Tracy Long were completely missing from the discovery documents turned over, leading to last week’s spoil hearing, according to fighter lawyers.
If the UFC fails to uncover this data, they could face serious legal sanctions from Judge Boulware.
Those listening to the plunder hearing, which took place on February 11 and 12, 2026, were not treated to much exciting courtroom drama, even when UFC CEO Dana White and CBO Hunter Campbell took the stand. Instead, there was a lot of jousting about who did what job regarding fighter jet contracts, how these people communicated with each other, and what happened to the old phones used by various employees.
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The purpose of the hearing was to determine why White and Long’s five-year-old correspondence was not turned over to war lawyers. There was also a phone belonging to Campbell that was never scanned, which plaintiffs allege was used to send more than 3,000 messages to UFC matchmakers. As a result, the evidence presented painted a picture of the UFC being extremely careless with its legal responsibilities in preserving and submitting records to the court.
Legal expert John Nash was in Nevada to testify at the hearing and discussed the potential ramifications of the 2015 plunder hearing. Substack podcast.
“The judge will probably impose some type of sanctions on the plaintiffs,” Nash said on Hey Not The Face. “He said these are sanctionable offenses. The question is: What will he do on a spectrum of what he can do and how much fault he finds in himself?”
UFC claimed that Dana White is no longer involved When it comes to anything to do with UFC fighters, contracts, or matchmaking, that means years of missing communication don’t matter. Boulware’s questioning of White shows that he has little faith in this argument.
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“If the judge decides that this material is actually relevant to the case, if he decides there’s something important in this material,” Nash said. “It’s not just a small amount, it’s a very significant amount that would show how the UFC operates, and that’s missing. So how do you conduct litigation? How do plaintiffs prepare their cases? How does the judge decide? How does the jury work?”
“The judge has to make a decision about these arbitration agreements,” Nash said of Cirkunov v. Zuffa. “He needs to make a decision on these arbitration class action waivers, and he can basically say, ‘I need to make this decision.’ [fighters] because material is missing which could possibly prove the plaintiff’s case or prove the defendant’s case.’”
“’And because the loss was due to gross negligence or bad faith [UFC]I am forced to weigh this case in favor of the plaintiffs by adverse inference. Under Nevada law, I am required to revoke these arbitration agreements and class action waivers.’ And so all the fighters… are now back in the Johnson class.”
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The more combatants represented by the class, the more money at stake as this antitrust case progresses. $375 million Le v. Zuffa deal would be a pittance in comparison how much money Johnson v. Zuffa warriors may sue. This negative inference from certified discovery violations could come back to haunt the UFC through an actual trial.
“If he goes to trial,” Nash said. “[The judge] He may turn to the trial and say: ‘Since this material is missing, I think you should draw the negative inference that you, as the jury, are free to interpret at any time an argument based on material we do not have. You might weigh that this is the most negative thing. [UFC] and the most useful [fighters].”
Judge Boulware gave UFC lawyers 30 more days to sort through the mess of missing cellphones and records, but it looks like Dana White’s equivalent of years of lost communications won’t be recoverable. It’s unknown how the judge will react to this, but he made it clear that he was extremely unhappy with how poorly the UFC kept its records despite having a court order to save them.
The legal ramifications of his decision on the matter could be huge, pushing the UFC toward another multimillion-dollar deal with its fighters.
