After an error in judgement by Ronda Rousey (12-2 MMA) to stand and trade with Amanda Nunes (14-4 MMA) at UFC 207, the backlash has extended to her head coach Edmond Tarverdyan.
Bantamweight champion Nunes bulldozed through Rousey in just 48 seconds, landing a huge right hand within the first 15 seconds which brought back memories of the Holly Holm bout. The Brazilian then opened up with a barrage of punches which left Rousey looking lost; a left hook and four-punch combination left Rousey staggering backwards before referee Herb Dean intervened.
Tarverdyan, Rousey’s coach from the Glendale Fighting Club was on the receiving end of a lot of criticism following the loss to Holly Holm 13 months ago and by the looks of it, we can expect more to follow after a second consecutive defeat for the American.
Although it is Rousey who has conceded the second defeat of her career – potentially spelling the end of her MMA career – there are many people who will hold Tarverdyan accountable of poor and naive coaching.
Rousey, known for her background as an Olympic Judo bronze medallist, failed to improve her striking skills despite going up against a far superior striker. The 29-year-old Judoka reaped the rewards of her Judo skills at the start of her UFC career where she later dominated the women’s Bantamweight division.
Her most recent loss can be put down to a number of things, from a lack of confidence and mental side effects of her first loss, failing to deal with her UFC 193 defeat to simple ring rust. Rousey’s mental state came into constant question following her bizarre media boycott leading up to the fight and will continue to do so after storming out of the Octagon post-fight.
Although all these reasons for Rousey’s demise are valid, the simple fact is poor preparation was ultimately her downfall. The 135lb division is seemingly a different world from when Rousey was crowned champion three years ago. The more attention women’s MMA has been given – in which Rousey was a pioneer – the quicker the standard of fighters has increased.
Rousey notched victories over the likes of Bethe Correia, Cat Zingano, Alexis Davis and Miesha Tate during her reign as champion and even managed to finish Davis and Correia within the first minute of their fights. However in comparison to the likes of former boxing champion Holm and champion Nunes, the “Rowdy” one’s previous opponents do not come close in terms of striking ability.
Ronda’s natural talent got her to the heights of MMA when the stylistic fights were in her favour however it seems Coach Edmond failed to adapt his fighters’ game plans for that of proficient strikers. With an effective ground game and solid submission skills there was no reason for Rousey not to take the fight to the ground yet it remained to be seen?
Orders given by Tarverdyan during the fight show no interest of taking the fight to the mat. Whether it was Rousey or her coach who were too naive and stubborn to swallow their pride and play to their strengths one thing is for sure it’s now too little too late for the former champion who slips to her second career defeat.
Post-fight Amanda Nunes spoke of her opponent’s failure to evolve as a fighter.
“I’m an intelligent fighter, you know?” Nunes said. “I want to evolve all the time. And when I see something that is wrong with my evolution, I try to make some changes, to my gym, to my coaches, around me, to see where is the mistakes. And I feel like she don’t know those things. She’s not a real fighter. She don’t know how to make changes in her game, so she’s not a real fighter.”
That is not all UFC bantamweight champion had to say after tearing into coach Tarverdyan for trying to make Rousey believe she was a boxer.
“She thinks she’s a boxer. He put this in her head and made the girl believe in that. I don’t know why he did that.”
Rousey’s mother Annmaria DeMars and others close to her have not been shy of voicing their criticism of Tarverdyan.
UFC fighter Jake Ellenberger saw his career come to a standstill after a number of defeats under Tarverdyan, before recently switching to new tutelage. Another one of coach Edmond’s fighters is boyfriend of Ronda, Travis Browne who has gone 2-4 in his last six fights.
Rousey has shown massive faith in Taverdyan, but with the cracks clear as daylight, it remains to be seen if the former undisputed women’s champion will stick with the California based coach should she elect for another chance at redemption.
