UFC fighter sues ex-coach for $2 million claiming he embezzled her money and blamed it on her Amazon shopping

Former UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade filed a lawsuit alleging former manager Gilliard Parana embezzled her money during their partnership between 2012-2024.

The $2 million lawsuit comes as Andrade is set for an early September return to the Octagon and is filed in the United States despite both the plaintiff and defendant being Brazilian.

Parana has returned to Brazil since he and Andrade parted ways, which Andrade said he was "smart" for doing.

"The lawsuit is moving in the United States and he’s in Brazil, so I don't know how it's going to work. He was quite smart, he left before things happened."

Andrade said that while Parana was her manager, "He was taking care of [her] finances," and she "had no access" to "anything."

"At one point he said, 'Jessica, look, let me handle this for you, you don't have to worry about any of this.' And as always, I trusted him. He removed my access to the account. He said, 'You don't need to look at your accounts, you'll have a monthly salary.' I was making good money in the beginning, but in the end I don't know how [that money ran out]," Andrade told MMA Fighting.

'Jessica is not illiterate. Jessica was never forbidden from going to the bank.'

Parana denied the allegations and said she "always had full access to her things and was always intelligent enough to know everything that happened in her financial life."

He added that he was "never the guy" who took care of her finances.

"I was just her advisor," he continued. "All of this will be proven if there is a coherent investigation."

Another claim by Andrade was that the ex-coach said she had been "shopping too much on Amazon."

"I made $2 million and spent $10,000 on Amazon[?] Where did the rest of the money go? It makes no sense, and it's being investigated now, and we'll find out where every penny went. I'll just wait for now," she said.

Parana fired back at those accusations saying anyone who "has a brain and knows how to do math" could see that her money wasn't simply spent on a few Amazon purchases. He added that it was more likely the fighter had so many expenses that she might have gotten lost in the calculations.

"Jessica is not a 15-year-old girl. And Jessica is not illiterate. Jessica was never forbidden from going to the bank, from calling the bank and from finding out how her accounts were," Parana added.

At the same time, the Brazilian coach said he expected her accusations were about income made in 2023, but said there's no way she made $2 million that year.

"It could be something close to that — unless she fought Conor McGregor and no one found out," Parana said, poking fun at the idea. He went on to say that if the media and fans paid close attention, they could likely conclude that her calculations don't add up.

Andrade now lives in Las Vegas where she trains with fellow pro fighters Karol Rosa, Jessica Delboni, and Denise Gomes; all three of whom also left Parana's gym (Parana Vale Tudo) in the last year.

Parana chalked their exodus up to his retirement from his role, stating that he knew the fighters would leave after he announced he was no longer coaching.

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