The Fighters’ Experts
The fighters’ lawyers have engaged four highly renowned experts to support the fighters’ case:
Hal J. Singer, Ph.D.
Andrew Zimbalist, Ph.D.
Alan Manning, Ph.D.
Guy A. Davis, CPA, CIRA, CDBV, CFE
These experts are all at the top of their fields. Indeed, one—Professor Manning (an expert on labor economics)—was even deemed by one of Zuffa’s experts to be one of the top experts in the field of labor economics. (The fighters’ lawyers engaged Professor Manning to appear in person in this case to refute Zuffa’s arguments.) The fighters’ experts have produced reports totaling nearly 1,000 pages that apply their expertise to the evidence in support of the fighters’ claims. The fighters’ lawyers have thus far successfully defended their experts’ testimony from Zuffa’s attempts to exclude them. In September 2018, the Court deferred Zuffa’s attempts to throw out the fighters’ experts’ testimony until after it decides class certification. In August and September 2019, the Court held a series of multi-day evidentiary hearings during which both sides’ expert witnesses testified, and in December 2020, the Court indicated its intention to grant the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification based in part on the experts’ testimony.
Further information on the fighters’ expert witnesses can be found below, including the reports they submitted in this case on behalf of the fighters.
Hal J. Singer, Ph.D.
Dr. Hal J. Singer is an economist, econometrician (the application of statistical methods to economics), and expert in antitrust and regulation. He has researched, published, and testified on competition-related issues in a wide variety of industries, including sports, media, pharmaceuticals, and finance. He has extensive experience providing expert economic and policy advice to regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada, as well as before congressional committees. Dr. Singer is also a Senior Fellow at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, where he teaches advanced pricing to MBA candidates.
Dr. Singer’s reports cover the history and development of the MMA industry, the challenged aspects of Zuffa’s conduct, alleged anticompetitive effects flowing from Zuffa’s conduct (including an analysis of common impact and proposed damages calculations), and the alleged absence of procompetitive justifications for Zuffa’s conduct.
Click here for more information on Dr. Singer.
Andrew Zimbalist, Ph.D.
Prof. Andrew Zimbalist is one of the nation’s leading sports economists. He is the chair of the Economics Department at Smith College. He has studied and consulted extensively within the intercollegiate and professional sports industry for leagues, teams, players’ associations, governments, citizen groups, and athletes for over twenty-five years. He has published twenty-six books and dozens of articles, including on sports economics. He is a co-founder and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Economics.
Dr. Zimbalist’s reports cover the history of restrictive contractual clauses in other major U.S professional sports, the effects of free agency and collective bargaining on athlete compensation and quality in those sports, the alleged anticompetitive effects of Zuffa’s challenged conduct, the alleged absence of procompetitive justifications for Zuffa’s conduct, and proposed damages calculations.
Click here for more information on Dr. Zimbalist.
Alan Manning, Ph.D.
Prof. Alan Manning is a labor economist and Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics. He is one of the world’s foremost experts on monopsony and author of the book Monopsony in Motion: Imperfect Competition in Labor Markets (Princeton University Pres, 2003). He has published over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals on issues related to labor markets, imperfect competition (monopsony), minimum wages, job polarization, immigration, and gender. He is Director of the Community Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE and a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists.
Dr. Manning’s report reviews the use of “wage share” to analyze compensation in labor economics and its appropriateness for analyzing the compensation of MMA fighters in this lawsuit.
Click here for more information on Dr. Manning.
Guy A. Davis, CPA, CIRA, CDBV, CFE
Guy A. Davis is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and holds a Certification in Distressed Business Valuation. He is also a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. For twenty-eight years, he has performed a variety of forensic accounting and financial consulting services. He has also served as a financial consultant and/or expert witness in federal and state courts on behalf of governmental agencies, corporations, partnerships, individuals, class action plaintiffs, sureties, and financial institutions.
Mr. Davis’s report analyzes the financial and accounting history of Zuffa and the UFC, including the amounts paid to its owners and investors and its capacity to pay fighters.
Click here for more information on Mr. Davis.
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