For Edmond Tarverdyan, some good news has got to be welcomed and appreciated right now. Ronda Rousey, his seemingly untouchable star pupil, looked horrible before getting head-kicked down to earth by Holly Holm at UFC 193 while the world made fun of his “beautiful” coaching. Then she seemed to show no improvement while getting utterly obliterated by UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes a couple weeks ago at UFC 207. And Tarverdyan’s next biggest “star,” Travis Browne, has lost three of his last four fights.
So now for the good news. The trustee in Tarverdyan’s bankruptcy case, Jason Rund, has agreed to settle the dispute for $160,000. On Thursday, Rund filed a motion with the Los Angeles Division of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for an order to approve his settlement agreement with Tarverdyan and his wife, Diane Avetisyan.
According to Rund’s motion and the signed settlement agreement, before Tarverdyan filed his bankruptcy petition in 2015, he transferred his rights, title, and interest in G.F.C. Fitness, Inc. – which owns and operates the Glendale Fighting Club – to his wife, Avetisyan.
Rund contends in his motion that this transfer was fraudulent or preferential.
The Trustee contends, among other things, that: (1) the Transfer is avoidable as a fraudulent transfer under the Bankruptcy Code and California law and/or as a preferential transfer under the Bankruptcy Code; and (2) all of the right, title and interest in GFC is community property that is property of the estate. [Tarverdyan] and Avetisyan dispute these contentions.
According to the settlement, Tarverdyan and Avetisyan have until Jan. 15 to pay the $160,000 in full. Should they fail to do so, the rights and title to GFC and its assets will be deemed community property and the trustee will have the right to sell GFC and its assets and retain the proceeds for the estate and the creditors.
As for why Rund chose to settle instead of continuing to pursuing the case, he writes that he believes $160,000 is likely more than he would receive by “prosecuted litigation to resolve the dispute” and liquidation of GFC’s assets, if successful.
The Court still needs to approve the settlement for it to become effective.
At the end of the day, there’s a simple lesson in all of this. When you’re the trainer of one of the most popular fighters on the entire planet, don’t try to tell a bankruptcy trustee that you earn $0.00 income. It’s not believable.
Paul is Bloody Elbow’s analytics and business writer. Follow him @MMAanalytics.
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