After beating Ronda Rousey and defending her belt at UFC 207, Amanda Nunes circled the Octagon with a finger on her lips, gesturing “silence” as she passed by her opponent’s corner. When asked if that was really directed at Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan, Nunes confirmed it and said his coaching contributed to a career downfall.
“She thinks she is a boxer. He like put this thing in her head, and make the girl believe in that,” Nunes said during the post-fight press conference. “I don’t know why he did that. She had great judo. She could’ve gone more forward in this division, but he put that crazy thing about boxing (in her head), and her career started going down.”
“When I went in there, I’m the real striker here. I wanted to look at him and say (that).”
Nunes won in just 48 seconds, and a lot of immediate criticism on the former champion, was from Rousey’s boxing technique and seemingly being willing to stand with a far superior striker.
“I knew she was going to strike with me,” she said. “because her boxing coach, he told her she had good striking.”
Is Nunes making a fair assessment of Rousey’s camp? For what it’s worth, Tarverdyan’s entire coaching during the fight has been transcribed, so you can see for yourself.
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