Ronda Rousey has been pretty good thus far at dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodging controversy. Even her relationship with Travis Browne, a UFC fighter accused by his last wife of domestic abuse, hasn’t created as many ripples as you’d expect in the media. Thus far, the biggest drama the UFC superstar has had to deal with was her mother trashing her coach Edmond Tarverdyan, saying she’d “run over him with my car if there wasn’t a law against it.”
That seems like small drama indeed when compared to Edmond’s very serious financial situation, which was just revealed by Bloody Elbow today. According to the website, Tarverdyan filed for bankruptcy at the end of July, and those documents have some interesting omissions, namely his ownership and income from the Glendale Fight Club where Rousey and several other top UFC fighters train.
Tarverdyan lists his occupation as “Not Employed” while earning “$0.00” in gross wages, salary, tips, bonuses, and commissions and receiving “$0.00” in net income from operating a business, profession, or farm (Debtor 1 column below). His spouse did not file for bankruptcy but her income was included in the form. Bloody Elbow has redacted her precise income for privacy purposes but will confirm it is less than $10,000 a month and, after expenses, Tarverdyan claims a net monthly family income of $-110.00.
Tarverdyan lists more than $700,000 in debts and just over $3,000 in assets, and also says he hasn’t filed his taxes in several years. The unusual claims didn’t just raise the eyebrows of MMA reporters; the bankruptcy trustee in charge of the case has already applied for a lawyer to review Edmond’s claims, especially those related to the Glendale Fight Club.
As I am not a lawyer or even an American, I have little insight to offer regarding how bad it would be for Ronda Rousey’s coach to be caught fudging all the numbers in a bankruptcy case like this. But putting a bunch of zeros in his income fields while potentially making big bucks training the top star in the UFC doesn’t seem like it will end well. Something doesn’t add up here.
(via Bloody Elbow)
