MMA has had an incredible year news-wise, thanks mostly to three big stories. We’ve seen all sorts of drama, from the New Year all the way to now. We opened the first week of the year with Dana White assaulting his wife on video for the world to see. We’ve seen Power Slap become a real thing and it has now been sanctioned in California—something we would have never believed could happen last year.

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We also bore witness to another year without Conor McGregor in the cage, but he never stopped making headlines, and for all the wrong reasons. From another alleged assault on a woman at a basketball game to having tasted more than $2M in losses at his Black Forge Inn, Conor’s moments in the limelight haven’t had much positivity to them in 2023.

The stories that did make our radar were exactly as you’d expect, but the order may throw some of you off. Trust Nash’s process, though, because he has good reasoning for the way he’s arranged them. Without further ado, here are the big three of 2023:

* Francis Ngannou parting ways with the UFC and ultimately signing a landmark deal with PFL

* PFL acquiring Bellator

* UFC antitrust suit

* Bonus 4th top story: TKO Holdings

When it comes to predicting 2024, Nash kept it simple by using the same three topics, but in reverse order. Again, there is a method to his madness. The potential for movement in the antitrust case, seeing what moves PFL makes going forward and seeing if Francis Ngannou moves forward with boxing or MMA next will be absolutely magnetic stories for 2024.

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The UFC antitrust case is the gift that keeps on giving, especially recently. You may be asking yourself “What’s happened now?” and the answer to that question would be class certification. Once the honorable Judge Boulware awarded the plaintiffs class certification, it set the wheels in motion for an avalanche of discovery. Thousands of documents, text messages, e-mails and more have come to see the light of day, finally.

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The defendants (Zuffa, UFC. et. al) immediately appealed and were quickly denied. Then they submitted a request to reopen discovery. They were denied. Judge Boulware also strongly indicated that he wouldn’t be granting summary judgement either and that the case was set for an April 8th court date. That’s just right around the corner.

Since all these documents have become public, John Nash has been diligently poring over them, breaking them down and trying to disseminate the information in an easy to digest format. Today’s episode is no different. The topic is the Guy Davis report.

So, who is Guy Davis? Well, he’s a forensic accountant with 28 years of experience and an accolade list that took 10 pages to list. He went through the UFC’s finances and came up with some startling information. A few points to note:

* UFC owners took out huge loans in order to pay themselves

* UFC owners used their FIVE corporate jets 5 times more than necessary to the tune of $9M/year

* Affliction MMA is listed as a UFC acquisition alongside PRIDE, Strikeforce, WEC, WFA

* The terms around the WFA purchase warrant extra scrutiny

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The UFC antitrust lawsuit spent three years stagnating and then a few months ago, we got big news: the honorable Judge Boulware assigned class certification and gave detailed notes that left no doubt he thought the plaintiffs had a solid case. Since then, it’s been a near-constant stream of updates, starting with the defendants’ official appeal—which was almost immediately denied by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Then we saw the defendants submit a motion to re-open discovery. That was denied quickly, as well. Along with that denial, Judge Boulware indicated that he was going to deny their motion for summary judgement, and then gave a brand new reason for the plaintiffs to celebrate: Injunctive relief could now be on the table if they win the case.

If they can do that, and it’s looking like they can, the UFC could be subject to more than just monetary restitution, they could end up having court ordered changes to their business model. Nash has maintained that the UFC hasn’t settled yet because they assumed they could pay the damages and keep moving along because their business model is the magic that fills their coffers. This new development could be disastrous for the UFC.

The rest of the episode is a thorough review of the antitrust lawsuit from the beginning to where we are currently. It should be noted that we recorded that portion of the show Thursday, but news broke late yesterday, so we decided to do an emergency recording to provide the update. Because we think you guys are the bees knees.

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Yesterday, news broke that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the UFC’s appeal to the antitrust lawsuit, so of course we had to record in the dead of night to bring our listeners all the details. John explains all the upcoming dates the honorable Judge Boulware has set forth and what happens next.

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John has accessed the mammoth list of payouts—all UFC fights between 2011-2016, to be exact—and reveals the exact amounts of purses and career payouts of some of the highest earners in the promotion. It’s a must-listen episode you won’t want to miss.

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Francis Ngannou’s boxing debut was nothing short of incredible, and even though he didn’t get his arm raised in victory, many in the combat sports world felt he DID do enough to get the nod, but the judges instead scored it in favor of reigning lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. The tally would see “The Predator” take a split decision loss—in his first boxing match!!—to the lineal heavyweight champion of the world.

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Of course John had some thoughts on the entire extravagant night of boxing and its impact on the combat sports community. One thing is undeniable, Francis Ngannou is now a bona fide superstar who can command big names and big purses in boxing. He’s already secured a sensational deal with the PFL who acquiesced to his contract demands and now have the hottest commodity in all of combat sports.

Let’s take a look at the topics we covered:

* How much did the Saudis lose on that event?

* What does that loss do for Ngannou? And how many people should be eating crow right now?

* What are his options in boxing going forward?

* Was that fight bad for boxing? Was it good for MMA?

* How big would a Jon Jones fight against Ngannou be now?

* Does Francis become as big as Conor McGregor now?

* The UFC brought up Ngannou as part of their request to re-open discovery in the Le v Zuffa case. Does Ngannou help the UFC make the case they are not a monopsony?

* Does this breathe new life into MMA fighters crossing over into boxing?

* Did PFL gain from his performance?

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After nearly 38 years in business, Showtime will be calling it a day on their sports branch which mainly consists of boxing and Bellator. The rumor to this effect began a little over a month ago. Showtime boxing head Stephen Espinoza didn’t exactly make a firm denial of the rumors, nor did he outright confirm them.

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Espinoza will be among 38 regular employees that will ne jobless at the end of the year. Dan Rafael reports that freelancers/contractors will not be affected by the staff cuts. There’s a lot to unpack in this episode, even though it’s one of our short shots—which means it’s 100% FREE. Here’s a list of the topics:

Topics

* What Showsports going out of business mean for boxing

* What it means for Bellator

* Who's going to pick up the slack for boxing?

* Is Bellator getting bought or just going out of business?

* Are there similarities in the way Strikeforce and Elite XC were basically given the Old Yeller treatment with what’s potentially happening to Showtime?

* Can any of this turn up in the antitrust case somehow?

* How bad will the market be for fighters?

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Over the years, John Nash has reviewed contracts from all the major MMA promotions and several big boxing contracts, as well. We’ve been able to see just how restrictive, and at times, draconian, most of the MMA agreements between promotions and athletes truly are. The UFC set the standard with their boilerplate contract and with new changes, have made it more difficult for fighters to seek legal recourse. It seems that the competition followed suit with their own lopsided deals, tweaking things as needed, but by and large, there’s not a wealth of difference in the treatment of the athletes.

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Recently, John acquired a ONE Championship contract and as he went through it, one thing became clear: ONE has some of the most restrictive language of them all. In this episode, we’ll go through the contract point by point, and because it was made available via discovery in a lawsuit, we’re able to share it with our listeners. There are a few very interesting sections and one even had us scratching our heads. Let's just say ONE definitely has their fighters' finances under a microscope—even their personal finances outside competition.

Here’s a list of the contract’s points of interest:

* Whose contract is it and how did we acquire it?

* Why are there line-throughs on the cover page?

* What are the differences in this contract and those of the UFC, Bellator or the PFL?

* What are the differences in the promotional rights between the promotions?

* Do ONE Championship fighters have any say in where they will compete?

* Why would they need a new contract?

* What about the champion’s clause and duration of rights?

* For what reasons and for how long can ONE Championship extend their contracts?

* What about obligations, is there anything noteworthy there?

* What happens if a fighter gets injured or retires?

* What’s the oddest thing ONE Championship can terminate a contract for?

* Does ONE Championship have an exclusive negotiating period and a right to match?

* Why is their confidentiality agreement so restrictive?

* Why is so much of the contract “in perpetuity” and what’s up with their disparagement clause?

* Do they have an arbitration clause?

* What do their benefits and per diem look like?

* Is ONE required to offer three fights per year?

BONUS SECTION

* Is Dana White correct that the megastars in those events are the attractions? What about UFC fighters?

* Why does boxing draw such big gates?

* Can the UFC draw a gate that big?

* Will Jon Jones and Stipe make as much as the boxers on those events?

* If boxing can do so well, why is it apparently in trouble on SHO?

* Why are investors putting money into MMA promotions and not boxing promotions?

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of MMA business and finance, but we tried to cover all the most pertinent topics. Front and center is the new filings that came out last week on the UFC’s first half of the year. We also discuss the latest rumblings of a Bellator buyout by the PFL and what that could look like in the future. Here’s a list of the points of conversation we covered in this week’s episode:

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* Breakdown of the latest UFC financials

* Comparison of distributions to the UAW strike

* Fees (management fees)

* WWE cuts

* Comments from members within TKO Holdings that state apprehension and concern about Vince McMahon’s prominent role in the company

* Vince’s shares may be for sale

* How much Endeavor has profited over the years (distributions)

* Ari Emanuel’s incredible deal

* Latest PFL/Bellator rumors

* Outlook after buying Bellator

* Performance institutes (international locations)

* Ticket prices for UFC 295

* Drawing potential of Covington vs. Strickland vs. O’Malley

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A lot has happened in the last two weeks. The court gave a date in the antitrust suit, the defendants requested an appeal, the plaintiffs responded and we’ve got all the pertinent details. Spectrum and Disney have been in a battle over rising rates to broadcast Disney’s content—specifically ESPN. John opines on how that could affect the UFC.

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We’ve also got updates on the UFC-WWE merger, what Francis Ngannou might get as far as cuts of revenue outside his contracted purse, the PFL’s fresh infusion of cash and what Sean Strickland can expect as a new champion. It’s an episode you won’t want to miss.

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Nate Quarry might be most famously known for his fight with Kalib Starnes or for his comeback fight against Pete Sell, but he is doing much bigger things these days. These days, he’s known as one of the original plaintiffs in the UFC antitrust suit, but because he was part of the identity class, which was denied class certification, he is no longer a plaintiff.

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That doesn’t mean he’s stopped his quest to help other fighters, though. In fact, it’s just the opposite, as he’s now focusing his energy on getting the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act instituted in MMA. He discusses his journey over the last nearly nine years being part of the lawsuit and talks about future plans.

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