TKO Group Holdings' shareholders are "happy" following the news that the company "settled two separate class action lawsuits" yesterday, according to Ben Fowlkes of YAHOO SPORTS. Within 20 minutes of the announcement that TKO agreed to a payout of $335M, its stock had "jumped more than 5% and was up 7.84% at market close." Fowlkes wrote that investors were clearly “happy” to see these lawsuits, with estimated “potential damages set as high as” $1.6B, get put to rest. Fowlkes noted what it all means for the UFC, the fighters and the sport of MMA is that they will "have to wait for still more dust to settle." Fowlkes added it also surprised many that fighters would be “willing to accept a settlement rather than insisting on their day in court.” Sportswriter John Nash said, “I think a lot of people got enamored by the possibility of a trial here, but the reality is that that’s too risky a possibility for either party.” Nash added it is why he said the UFC “would probably have to settle because the risk is so incredible.” Former UFC fighter Nate Quarry said, “No, we didn’t get everything we wanted. Our goal all along was to change the sport.” Quarry added weighing “all the possible outcomes this seemed the best outcome. ... Wish we could’ve done more" (YAHOO SPORTS, 3/20).
