“Me and Lorenzo went to high school with him!”

In the eyes of UFC CEO Dana White, the rejection of the UFC antitrust class action settlement was more than just a business matter — it was personal.

White recently sat down with Kevin Iole for an interview, marking his first public comment on the class action lawsuits since Judge Richard Boulware formally dismissed a $335 settlement from UFC parent company TKO Holdings Group.

White believes Boulware’s actions went beyond the legal issues and may have stemmed from a personal grudge. White — who says he usually lets the UFC’s legal team handle these types of cases — claims he and Lorenzo Fertitta, the UFC’s former CEO, went to high school with Boulware.

“It’s getting to the point where it feels personal. You know I went to high school with this guy? Me and Lorenzo went to high school with him. I don’t know what me or Lorenzo did to him in high school, but it feels very, very personal.

“I don’t think I did anything to this guy. I don’t know what the hell happened, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this is absolutely personal. And whatever it is with this guy, we’ll let the lawyers handle it, and they will.”

Dana White says judge’s rejection of UFC antitrust settlement stems from ‘personal’ high school grudge

In March, TKO agreed to pay $335 million to settle two class action lawsuits against the UFC, (Cung) Le et al. v. Zuffa and (Kajan) Johnson et al. v. Zuffa. The plaintiffs sought $1.6 billion in damages and contractual changes to UFC contracts.

Boulware has raised concerns about the settlement in recent weeks for a variety of reasons. First, the settlement amount was significantly different than what the plaintiffs originally sought, raising concerns about how much each player would actually receive from the settlement.

Second, each class action lawsuit had a different focus, with Le’s case focusing on money and Johnson’s case focusing on contractual changes. Boulware expressed concern that this settlement did little or nothing for the players represented in Johnson’s case.

A jury trial is currently scheduled to begin Oct. 28 in Le vs. Zuffa. Meanwhile, Johnson vs. Zuffa is still in the very early stages of the legal process.