Former UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade, who marked a decade with the promotion last year, remains a standout at 32. Despite the recent buzz about a potential retirement, Andrade doesn’t intend to lay down her gloves just yet. In fact, she is trying to tempt former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk out of retirement for a women’s BMF bout. While Andrade’s future in the UFC looks as exciting as ever, some trouble brewing between her and her former coach outside the octagon.

The Brazilian fighter has filed a lawsuit against her former coach, alleging fraud involving millions of dollars. The matter revolves around a staggering fee of $2 million.

Jessica Andrade accuses coach Gilliard Parana of fraud

Jessica Andrade is gearing up to face Natalia Silva at UFC Fight Night this weekend. However, she will also have to devote her focus to recovering $2 million from her former coach, Gilliard Parana. Andrade spent more than a decade under his mentorship, during which he also acted as her manager. Earlier this year, Andrade cut ties with her coach.

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Andrade revealed that during her fighting career, Parana controlled her finances. She said, “That happened when he was taking care of my finances, and I had no access to anything.” This blind faith in her manager/coach led the Brazilian into a pitfall. She added, “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.”

Jessica Andrade first noticed something suspicious with her finances when she confronted her coach, Gilliard Parana, about irregularities in her account. Parana made various excuses, even blaming her shopping habits for covering up the embezzlement. Once Andrade realized what was happening, she reported it to the authorities for investigation. However, by that time, her former coach had already fled the U.S. and returned to Brazil, leaving the future of her lawsuit uncertain. Andrade expressed her frustration, saying, “I don’t know how it’s going to work. He was quite smart, he left before things happened.”

With all these allegations flying around the community, damaging Parana’s standing, who runs the well-known Parana Vale Tudo gym in Brazil, how did he react? Recently, the coach fired back at Andrade, attributing her financial losses to poor math skills, stating that her expenses didn’t add up.

Former coach claps back at Jessica Andrade

Gillard Parana quickly stepped forward to defend his innocence against Jessica Andrade’s allegations, made in her interview with MMA Fighting. Her former coach addressed the accusations on the same platform, emphasizing Andrade’s spending habits. He added, ” She has a lot of expenses, and there are so many that she even gets lost in the calculations. Jessica is not incapable. Jessica is not a 15-year-old girl. And Jessica is not illiterate.”

Her coach further addressed the allegations of the UFC fighter claiming that she was prevented from accessing her account, adding, “Jessica was never forbidden from going to the bank, from calling the bank and from finding out how her accounts were.” What are your thoughts on the ongoing controversy between Jessica Andrade and her coach? Drop your insight in the comments below.