As the dust settles on last night’s UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, I am only now beginning to comprehend the abnormality of what we seen. From the opening bell, Holly Holm weaved a vision of brilliance. Through well-timed counter striking and amazing movement, Holm made Ronda Rousey, the most dominant female fighter in the UFC, look like an amateur. After suffering such a dominant defeat, many have predicted Rousey’s demise will further hasten, but I offer a different opinion: Ronda Rousey will be champion again if she leaves Edmond Tarverdyan.
Over the last week, I have written extensively about Tarverdyan. I wrote an opinion piece in which I labelled him the “luckiest man in MMA” and I stick to that, but it now has become apparent that Edmond’s luck has finally run out. I am not the only one that feels this way even Rousey’s own mother, Dr AnnMaria De Mars has been quick to chastise Tarverdyan for his missteps.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Tarverdyan isn’t the best coach in the world, all you need to do is to look at his other students. Jessamyn Duke went from prospect to punchbag under his tutelage and Ronda Rousey’s man friend Travis Browne, seems to have lost a level of skill since shipping up to Glendale.
If you were to describe Ronda Rousey’s fighting style to someone who had never seen her fight how would you describe it? I would describe her as a submission specialist, a judoka who excels in transitions and this has always been her strength, but over the last few fights she has found herself relying on her boxing, or lack thereof.
The most striking thing at UFC 193 was Rousey’s bad footwork. Not only was she constantly in prime punching range for Holm she, but she also showed no lateral movement, no cutting off her opponent , instead she literally just charged at Holm. For a fighter who works exclusively with a boxing coach her boxing was sub-par and at the end of the first round, I expected her corner man to offer some technical feedback but he didn’t, instead he declared that Rousey was “doing a good job.”
Tarverdyan watchers have been appalled by his cornering since the Travis Browne-Brendan Schaub bout at UFC 181 when his work mostly consisted of throwing insults at a beaten Schaub.
I honestly believe that Tarverdyan offers Rousey nothing more than familiarity and loyalty, there are so many better places for Rousey to train. I for one would love to see her work with Firas Zahabi, but if she were to stay in California why not work with Freddie Roach? His boxing knowledge eclipses that of Tarverdyan’s.
All in all, I think it is time for Ronda Rousey to move on or hang the gloves up. I have no interest in seeing her fight Holly Holm again if she comes in after training with a team that could not assemble a better game plan than “bullrush and clinch.” Ronda Rousey has some decisions to make, is it time for Hollywood or is it time to get serious about a come back?
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