Fighters ask to swap Kajan Johnson for Gray Maynard in UFC antitrust suit

The fighters suing the UFC in Johnson v. Zuffa want Gray Maynard to replace Kajan Johnson as a named plaintiff. John S. Nash, who covers the business of MMA in his Hey, Not the Face! newsletter, flagged the motion in a post on Tuesday, Nov. 10. POST Wrestling reported it on Wednesday. The motion also asks for permission to file a Second Amended Complaint.

It was made under Rule 21 of the federal civil rules, which lets a court add, drop or swap parties. If the judge agrees, Maynard would join C.B. Dollaway and Tristan Connelly as the named plaintiffs. Johnson would remain part of the proposed class, POST Wrestling reported.

Why the plaintiffs want the change

The plaintiffs' stated reason is discovery. According to POST Wrestling's account of the motion, the defendants sent Johnson more than 400 discovery requests, 100 of them aimed at him alone. The plaintiffs say 201 arrived in eight days, between Oct. 28 and Nov. 4. They called the requests of "little or no relevance to the subject matter of the litigation."

Swapping Johnson out could wipe out the requests directed at him, POST Wrestling reported. No response from the UFC to the motion has been reported, and we found no public comment from Johnson or Maynard.

We think the motive is practical. Maynard fought twice inside the class period, so the swap shouldn't change who the case covers. It also resets discovery, though the UFC can now serve requests on Maynard instead.

The case so far

Johnson v. Zuffa was filed in federal court in Nevada on June 23, 2021, according to Law360. It alleges the UFC tried to monopolize MMA. It seeks damages and injunctive relief for fighters in UFC bouts from July 1, 2017 onward. Judge Richard Boulware is presiding.

It picks up where Le v. Zuffa left off. That case covered Dec. 16, 2010 to June 30, 2017, and Boulware rejected a $335 million deal covering both suits, as Yahoo Sports explained. TKO then agreed in September 2024 to pay $375 million to settle Le alone, leaving Johnson out, according to CBS Sports.

A separate fight over Phil Davis

The MMA Draw reported Wednesday on a UFC filing dated Nov. 9. It argues Phil Davis, whose suit sought no damages when filed, now wants money, including treble damages. The filing also suggests a wealthy, unnamed backer is funding the litigation, according to the outlet.

Davis isn't a plaintiff in Johnson; he leads a related suit, Davis v. Zuffa, filed in May 2025. These are the UFC's claims. We found no independent report of the filing, and no response from the plaintiffs' lawyers has been reported.

Who the two fighters are

Maynard went 11-7-1, with one no contest, in the UFC from 2007 to 2018, according to Wikipedia. He fought Frankie Edgar for the lightweight title twice in 2011: a split draw at UFC 125 on Jan. 1, then a fourth-round knockout loss at UFC 136 on Oct. 8. His last two UFC fights fall inside the class period. He beat Teruto Ishihara on July 7, 2017, and lost to Nik Lentz by second-round TKO on Oct. 6, 2018.

Johnson, a Canadian former lightweight, went 4-3 in the UFC, per our fighter page. His last four UFC fights, from September 2017 to September 2018, were also in the class period. He beat Adriano Martins and Stevie Ray, then lost to Islam Makhachev and Rustam Khabilov. He retired in 2020, according to Wikipedia.

Boulware has yet to rule on the swap or on the request to file an amended complaint, and no hearing date has been reported.