A significant change has been requested in a class action lawsuit against the UFC.
A motion was filed this week to request that former UFC lightweight Kajan Johnson be removed as a main plaintiff in an antitrust case in Nevada. In his place, fellow ex-UFC fighter Gray Maynard would be established as a key plaintiff alongside Clarence (C.B.) Dollaway and Tristan Connelly.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021, seeks damages and injunctive relief against UFC, alleging an attempt to monopolize the MMA industry. The antitrust lawsuit looks to cover UFC’s business practices from 2017 up to the present.
The change proposed this week could significantly alter the case as it continues its discovery process. An amended complaint would have to be filed by the plaintiffs, and it could eliminate the discovery filings both to and from Johnson.
Big change in the UFC antitrust case. Plaintiffs ask under Rule 21 to drop Kajan Johnson as a named plaintiff and substitute in Gray Maynard, with leave to file a conforming Second Amended Complaint. This move could eliminate all the Defendant discovery requests from Johnson. pic.twitter.com/Nj1F8iyNee
— John S. Nash (@heynottheface) November 10, 2026
A document filed by the plaintiffs emphasized that Johnson had been inundated with over 400 discovery requests by the defendants, including 100 requests directed exclusively at him.
They argued that the requests had “little or no relevance to the subject matter of the litigation,” and mentioned that 201 of the requests had been sent within a period of eight days from October 28 to November 4.
If the motion were approved, Johnson would remain represented as part of the class action group.
With a Rule 21 motion in U.S. law, a plaintiff can request to drop, add, or replace a party in a lawsuit.
UFC settled a much more prominent antitrust lawsuit in 2024, which covered fighters from December 2010 to June 2017. After a slight holdup in the courts, a payment of $375 million was agreed upon, along with some slight changes to the company’s business practices.
