Your life as a fight fan could change if the fighters win their UFC antitrust lawsuit

Pay more for fights? Less big fights? Get ready for 10 major storylines heading into combat sports' most important trial of the Century.

If you know that there is an antitrust lawsuit against the UFC, consider yourself to be in the top 1% of informed fight fans.

Nearly a decade after litigation was initiated, we are on the precipice of watching the UFC being forced to play defense for the first time since the late John McCain called it “human cockfighting.”

Get ready for an absolute public relations whirlwind before and during the UFC antitrust trial.

After years of social media silence and sports media blackouts, there’s likely going to be a lot of discussion emphasizing the downside of MMA fighters winning a major civil judgment against everyone’s favorite cage fight promoter.

The trial starts April 15th. The Federal trial rules are simple: every juror must find UFC liable. The juror box will have somewhere between 7 to 9 individuals, likely with 3 or 4 alternates. Read my extensive preview of the jury pool fight for both sides in the trial.

Given the location of the trial (Las Vegas) and the rules of Federal Civil Procedure, the odds are stacked in UFC’s favor with the juror pool. However, a jury can only determine a judgment based on the rules given to them by the trial judge.

So far, the plaintiffs in the case have won a significant portion of their motions — including the flood of motions in limine, determining what evidence and witnesses can or cannot be produced at trial.

Next is the determination of jury selection and, most importantly, what the rules will be for jurors to consider when rendering a decision. If you win the motions game and win the jury instructions battle, you have a real advantage.

If UFC wins the antitrust lawsuit, momentum for any sort of industry-wide change in terms of fighter contracts and bout money will get smothered.

If the fighters win the antitrust lawsuit, it cracks the door open for meaningful and structural change. Regulatory change, contractual change, financial change: Avenues previously closed to change would open up.

The fact that this case has even made it to trial is a Herculean feat for the plaintiffs and their legal representation. Keep this one fact in mind: under the Zuffa ownership umbrella, UFC has not lost a major lawsuit in over 20 years.

Find me another multi-billion dollar company, especially in a legally-classified ultra-hazardous industry, that hasn’t lost a significant lawsuit or paid out a massive settlement in a generation of existence.

We are here to prepare you with 10 major angles that you will flooded with by media analysts when the April 15th trial starts. Most of those analysts will be pro-UFC and strategically aligned with the perfect platforms for maximum impact.

Here are the angles we’ll cover in this piece:

1. Will fans lose out on big fights if UFC loses the antitrust lawsuit?

2. If UFC loses the antitrust suit, will it increase PPV prices?

3. How will the Wizards of Wall Street react to a UFC loss?

4. What if Donald Trump gets re-elected?

5. Will growing populism in legal & labor circles impact the case?

6. Would UFC losing an antitrust judgment accelerate a sale to Middle Eastern investors?

7. Will the UFC’s importance to Las Vegas save them?

8. Will gambling interests mobilize to protect the UFC?

9. What happens to state athletic commissions if UFC loses antitrust?

10. Will Ari Emanuel’s fearsome reputation be damaged by a loss?

When you have as much power in the sports and entertainment industry as Ari Emanuel, no one is going to cross you. If you want a future in Hollywood, in fashion, in television, in sports, you will practice self-censorship. We’re seeing this in play right now.

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Take a few minutes and read our primer on what is forthcoming. You’ll be the smartest fight fan in your family. You’ll also be ahead of the curve in what is forthcoming, including some of the actual parties involved in the lawsuit.