Taila Santos accused of not paying coaches and manager: Alleges ‘abusive’ deals

According to O Municpio de Blumenau, two former trainers and a manager of UFC fighter Taila Santos have accused her of not paying them for her previous three fights.

One of these matches was her latest challenge for the 125-pound UFC championship, which she lost to Valentina Shevchenko. The Brazilian boxer, who is 29 years old, has refuted the charges.

Former head coach and manager of Santos, Marcelo Brigadeiro, accuses her of breaching their contract after parting relations with his gym over a year ago, including failing to pay his portion for her fights against Roxanne Modafferi, Joanne Wood, and Shevchenko. Brigadeiro informed reporter that he will launch a lawsuit within the next several weeks.

A second former coach, Marcio Malko, filed a lawsuit requesting 20% of her championship bout earnings from this year, totaling $36,400. Malko claims that Santos has already compensated him for two previous training sessions.

Patricio Barbosa Farias, who is the brother of Santos’s spouse, is the third participant. He was allegedly $15,000 in debt for failing to train Santos after he left coach Malko’s club. The two reached an accord verbally. Farias does not intend to initiate a lawsuit, but he has filed a police report against Santos and his brother for embezzlement.

Santos addressed reporters on all three scenarios. She earlier filed a complaint against Brigadeiro in December 2021, seeking $4,820, when her former coach attempted to book her in a fight against an athlete he previously managed. She asserts that he rejected a different opponent without her knowledge. Regarding Malko, she asserts that the two have no documented contract and that the sum he is requesting is excessive. According to Santos, the police report of her brother-in-law contains “false charges.” She then described how she and her husband assisted him in obtaining a position as a coach at a jiu-jitsu center. However, Farias also assisted with the center’s development. He was compensated for his building services, although he never served as a coach due to conflicts with personnel.

Regarding her MMA career, Santos remains on the sidelines following her split-decision loss to Shevchenko, and she recently decided against undergoing surgery on her fractured orbital bone.