Judge warns lost cell phone and records represent ‘conspicuous offense’ in latest UFC anti-trust case

UFC chiefs Dana White and Hunter Campbell were responding to questions in a Nevada court this past week regarding the lack of disclosure material for another series of anti-trust lawsuits launched by the fighters.

Like Lay v. Zuffa — which ended in a $375 million settlement for fighters from 2012 to 2017 — Johnson v. Zuffa accused the UFC of using monopoly power to artificially suppress fighter pay this time starting in 2017. Cirkunov v. Zuffa argues that UFC fighters who signed class action arbitration clauses are still subject to Johnson v. Zuffa must be able to participate, and Davis v. Zuffa represents fighters outside the UFC who claim they have been harmed by the UFC’s anti-competitive behavior.

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All of these antitrust cases are being handled simultaneously by Judge Richard Boulware, the same judge who oversaw the Ley v. Zuffa settlement. According to the fighter’s attorneys, years’ worth of communications from White, Campbell, and UFC lawyer Tracy Long were completely missing from discovery documents, leading to this past week’s embezzlement hearing.

If the UFC doesn’t manage to dig up that data, they could be on the receiving end of serious legal consequences from Judge Boulware.

Audiences at the spoliation hearing on February 11 and 12, 2026, were not treated to a thrilling courtroom drama, even when UFC CEO Dana White and CBO Hunter Campbell took the stand. Instead, it was often fun about who did the work related to the fighter contract, how those people communicated with each other, and what happened to the old phones used by various employees.

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The goal of the hearing was to establish why five years of communications from White and Long were not turned over to the warring attorneys. There was also Campbell’s phone that was never scanned that plaintiffs claim was used to send more than 3,000 messages to UFC matchmakers. In all, the testimony provided painted a picture of the UFC being extremely lax with its legal responsibility to maintain and turn over records for the court.

Legal expert John Nash was in Nevada to witness the hearing and discussed the potential consequences of the spoliation hearing on his Substack podcast.

“The judge will probably give the plaintiffs some kind of sanction,” Nash told Hey Not The Face. “He said these are cognizable crimes. The question is: On the spectrum of what he can do and on the spectrum of how much fault he finds, what will he do?”

The UFC claims Dana White is no longer involved in anything related to UFC fighters, contracts, or matchmaking which means the years of lost communication don’t matter. Boulware’s questioning of White suggested that he didn’t fully buy that argument.

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“If the judge decides that this material is really relevant to the case, then there is material that is important,” Nash said. “Not just a small amount, but a very significant amount that shows the business operations of the UFC, and it’s missing. So how do you litigate? How do plaintiffs make their case? How does a judge decide? How does a jury?”

“Judges must make decisions about these arbitration agreements,” Nash said in Cirkunov v. Said about Zuffa. “He has to make a decision on these arbitration class action waivers, and he can basically say, ‘I have to make a decision. [fighters] Because material that can prove the plaintiff’s case or prove the defendant’s case is missing.’

“‘And because it is missing due to gross negligence or malicious intent. [UFC]I am bound by an adverse finding to weigh in favor of the plaintiffs in that case. I have to throw out these arbitration agreements and class action waivers under Nevada law.’ And so all the fighters … they’re now back in the Johnson class.

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The more combatants represented by the class, the more money is at stake as this anti-trust case moves forward. $375 million Le v. The Zuffa settlement would be a small amount compared to the amount Zuffa fighters could sue Johnson against. And that adverse finding because of an admitted discovery violation could haunt the UFC through an actual trial.

“If it goes to trial,” Nash said. “[The judge] Going back to the trial and saying, ‘Because this material is missing, I think you should have an adverse inference that you, the jury, are free to interpret at any time that there is an argument based on material that is not available to us. You can weigh it to see if it is the most unfavorable [UFC] And most beneficial for [fighters].”

Judge Boulware gave UFC lawyers 30 more days to sort through the mess of missing cell phones and records, but it looks like the lost years’ worth of Dana White communications won’t come back. It is not known how the judge will react to this, but he made it clear that he is extremely upset with how the UFC has kept their record bad despite being under a court order to protect them.

The legal fallout from his decision on the matter could be huge, and it could push the UFC toward another multi-million dollar deal with its fighters.