Ronda Rousey’s former manager speaks out on contract dispute

The California State Athletic Commission has ruled that the contract between UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and former manager, Darin Harvey of Fight Tribe Management, is invalid and unenforceable as it relates to her professional fighting career. There is also a commercial aspect of the contract which will be decided through arbitration or through California Superior Court. But, regarding the CSAC’s decision and his thoughts on how Rousey has handled this whole thing, Harvey has made the following statement:

“When I first met Ronda Rousey four years ago, she was destitute and UFC President Dana White was quoted as saying a woman would never fight in the UFC. I set out to make Ronda a star and prove Dana wrong. The results speak for themselves. Ronda is now a highly sought-after model, spokesperson and actress, not to mention the first and still reigning female UFC champion. She deserves all the credit in the world for her accomplishments, but she never would have achieved such unprecedented success without the unwavering financial investment, career guidance and professional support Fight Tribe Management and I provided her.

I am not a litigious person, but I never thought for a moment that once she made it to the top, Ronda would turn her back on us and refuse to honor her legal and moral obligations. After months of radio silence and without even giving me the courtesy of an explanation I was forced to go to court to compel Ronda to private arbitration per the terms of our agreement. Before that could be sorted out, Ronda’s legal team ran to the State Athletic Commission, demanded an expedited hearing and tried to get our entire agreement thrown out on a technicality. During our four-hour hearing last week, I finally heard Ronda’s side of the story. Frankly, it’s pathetic and I’m not surprised the Commission chose not to include any of that in their written decision. The Commission did properly reject Ronda’s attempt to invalidate the entirety of our agreement, and I am very pleased with that aspect of their decision. Our case against Ronda will now proceed. I am confident that when all the facts are presented to an impartial private arbitrator, Fight Tribe Management’s contributions to Ronda’s career will be fully recognized and fairly rewarded.”

You never want to hear about a successful person turning their back on the people that helped them make it big, or those celebrities who “forget where they came from”. Is that what Ronda Rousey has done in this case? Frankly, I don’t know. There’s always two sides to a story. What are your thoughts?

Paddy power bonus

For more background and information on this story visit Sherdog.com.