MMA Payout has obtained documents which shows that Ronda Rousey and her management team are in a dispute over its representation of the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Darin Harvey, President of Fight Tribe Management filed a Petition to Compel Arbitration in LA Superior Court last Friday against Rousey.
The documents filed by Fight Tribe Management, LLC request that the Court Compel Arbitration and seek that the briefing in this matter be sealed. If the Court grants the Application to seal, the documents will unlikely be available to the public. In his Declaration in Support of the “Application to Seal Briefing,” Darin Harvey states that the terms of the Representation Agreement with Rousey are confidential and cites two clauses in their agreement which support his request. He indicates the contract states financial disclosure of their agreement is to remain confidential “without the prior written consent of the other Party” unless it is required by law. It further cites a clause indicating that any dispute over the agreement should also be confidential in its attempt to resolve it.
Sherdog’s Mike Whitman spoke with Rousey’s legal representation in this matter and indicated that there may be an issue as to whether a private arbitrator can resolve the matter or whether the California State Athletic Commission should be in charge of resolving this dispute. Rousey’s attorney, Steven Bash indicated that the dispute is governed by the California State Athletic Commission and the California Business and Professions Code. Bash stated that he has yet to file a response and could not give specifics on the nature of what it would be.
Payout Perspective:
This will be an interesting legal fight that we will follow. Rousey’s lawyer states that the dispute should be resolved under the rules of the California State Athletic Commission while Fight Tribe Management has filed to compel arbitration in Superior Court. We might see an initial dispute over that procedural issue. There are rules for managers and fighters under the CSAC but whether they apply to this situation is not known due to the confidentiality of the dispute at this point.
There are arbitration provisions under Article 3, §227 of the California Code of Regulations which relate to contractual issues. These relate to boxers but we might assume that MMA fighters would fall under this provision. However, it does not look as though there are rules which would seal briefing (unless the parties agree pursuant to the terms in the agreement in dispute). The rules state that the parties would have to furnish the contracts that are in dispute at the arbitration hearing.
MMA Payout will keep you posted.
HaHa thats funny. Cyborg is gonna smack that b!!!! Up. Contract dispute HaHaHa.
rumor is she’s going with the wwe
This sort of thing happens all the time with contracts. A person signs an agreement then when they start making money or have the opportunity to make real money they dont like the terms. All of the sudden offers are coming her way and she probably thinks she can do what she wants. That’s not how a management contract works, she probably doesn’t like the percentage shes sharing either. She also probably has no clue as to how business works. As far as Cyborg, i say Rousey gives him the fight of his life lol Rousey is starting to believe Dana’s bs hype, he could have created a monster.
Roy Englebrecht points out that CSAC would have jurisdiction over this dispute only if the agreement at issue was signed in front of a CSAC official per the commission’s rules.