UPDATED with response from TKO: UFC parent company TKO today criticized a Nevada judge's ruling that rejected a proposed settlement with former fighters in a class action lawsuit.

“We strongly disagree with this ruling and believe it disregards the expertise of both sides’ attorneys, as well as that of an experienced and knowledgeable mediator – all of whom have decades of experience in anti-monopoly litigation,” the Endeavor-owned company said in a statement this afternoon, stressing that the $335 million settlement announced in the spring is in the best interests of the athletes.

By failing to do so, "we are preventing the athletes from receiving what they say is in their best interests and undoing an extensively negotiated settlement that, in the plaintiffs' attorneys' own words, "would far exceed the typical settlement in an antitrust class action" and "is an excellent outcome for the settlement classes by any traditional standards."

“Furthermore, by taking the unusual step of denying the settlement at this preliminary approval stage, the judge also deprives the athletes of their right to be heard at this crucial juncture in the case,” TKO said after U.S. District Court in Nevada Judge Richard Boulware denied the settlement earlier today.