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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Zuffa LLC, parent company for both the UFC and WEC organizations, has filed a lawsuit against MMA agent Ken Pavia and Bellator Fighting Championships, according to a report from Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Clark County District Court, alleges that Pavia passed along confidential documents and trade secrets to Bellator, which the promotion then used in their business operations.
Pavia's company, MMA Agents, has over 50 clients, and more than 40 of his past and present clients have fought in the UFC.
According to the lawsuit, Pavia provided Bellator with confidential contracts, which included fighter agreements, upon a July 4 email request from Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney.
Per the report, an attached email alleged to have been sent from Rebney to Pavia states, "You’ve been great about sending us ‘All’ of the seminal docs from the UFC, so that we can re-do them and implement them for Bellator... Please list each in terms of what it is for and how the UFC uses them/implements them. ... Then I’m going to have our team Monday re-type them and we will sufficiently alter them such that they will appear to be ours and not theirs."
The lawsuit also includes a number of unnamed individuals and corporations that allegedly assisted in the breach of contract. Iole's report provides part of the lawsuit's statements:
"The improper disclosure of Zuffa’s operations documents and confidential information by Pavia, MMA Agents, and the Doe and Roe Defendants constitutes a distinct act of dominion wrongfully exerted over Zuffa’s personal property... The improper use by Bellator of Zuffa’s operational documents and confidential information in order to conduct its competing business operations constitutes a distinct act of dominion wrongfully exerted over Zuffa’s personal property.”
Zuffa is seeking "actual and punitive damages and a permanent injunction barring Bellator or Pavia from using Zuffa’s assets, including its intellectual property."
Penick's Analysis: One of the issues surrounding the case will be how Zuffa obtained these emails, which could be a number of ways, legal or otherwise. If it was the latter, however, it would hurt the case they're presenting.
Still, this is a lawsuit Zuffa had to file once they obtained knowledge of the alleged impropriety. From their fighter contracts to any other documents that were sent to Bellator by Pavia, Zuffa may have a very strong case here. If what is alleged is true, it's a very serious issue on the part of Pavia and his dealings with his fighters and these organizations.
Putting aside the problems with Bellator flat out changing some words and phrases to make the contracts seem different, Pavia comes across as trying to get an in even further with the organization, conflicting his interests with those of the fighters he's supposed to be representing to help Bellator constrict them further with these contracts.
If what Pavia did constitutes stealing trade secrets by disclosing confidential information in a legal sense, Zuffa was obligated to go after him. There is some shadiness going on here, and more information is sure to come out on this situation in the coming weeks as Bellator's third season looks to begin.
If Zuffa's intellectual property was infringed upon for Bellator's fight contracts, television contracts or anything directly pertaining to them running their season three events, and if Zuffa can effectively prove as much to receive an injunction, Bellator may have some real issues starting next month.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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