The dust has settled on UFC 207, but questions remain. The world waited over a year for the return of Ronda Rousey. “Rowdy” was once dominant inside the Octagon and had a larger than life aura to her. That all changed when she was brutally knocked out by Holly Holm in Nov. 2015.
Rousey’s seclusion from the public eye and mixed martial arts (MMA) media left many wondering about her mental state. After all, the former women’s bantamweight champion admitted to having suicidal thoughts on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Over 18,000 fans packed the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to see how Rousey would fare in her comeback fight. She only last 48 seconds as she was torched by title holder Amanda Nunes. The fight was at best, lopsided and “Rowdy’s” lack of head movement and defense was apparent.
FOX Sports broadcast partners Kenny Florian and Jon Anik took to their podcast to discuss Rousey’s performance at the final pay-per-view (PPV) of 2016. Florian believes if “Rowdy” is to continue her fighting career, she’d be wise to find a new coach:
“I like Edmond (Tarverdyan). I spoke to him in various occasions, but he doesn’t have the experience for high level mixed martial arts. That’s my opinion. He hasn’t been keeping up with it. I just think she needs a knowledgeable, experienced coach, wherever that is. She’s going to need much better coaching, and a much better team around her. That’s for sure.”
Despite having over 400 days to prepare, Rousey didn’t offer anything new to counter Nunes’ aggressive style. Florian didn’t see any improvements from her last fight.
“She had 411 days to improve as a striker, and unfortunately for her, just wasn’t able to get it done. There really was no difference in what she did against Holly Holm. There was no head movement. There was no variety. There were no angles.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP11YG02owc
The dust has settled on UFC 207, but questions remain. The world waited over a year for the return of Ronda Rousey. “Rowdy” was once dominant inside the Octagon and had a larger than life aura to her. That all changed when she was brutally knocked out by Holly Holm in Nov. 2015.
Rousey’s seclusion from the public eye and mixed martial arts (MMA) media left many wondering about her mental state. After all, the former women’s bantamweight champion admitted to having suicidal thoughts on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Over 18,000 fans packed the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to see how Rousey would fare in her comeback fight. She only last 48 seconds as she was torched by title holder Amanda Nunes. The fight was at best, lopsided and “Rowdy’s” lack of head movement and defense was apparent.
FOX Sports broadcast partners Kenny Florian and Jon Anik took to their podcast to discuss Rousey’s performance at the final pay-per-view (PPV) of 2016. Florian believes if “Rowdy” is to continue her fighting career, she’d be wise to find a new coach:
“I like Edmond (Tarverdyan). I spoke to him in various occasions, but he doesn’t have the experience for high level mixed martial arts. That’s my opinion. He hasn’t been keeping up with it. I just think she needs a knowledgeable, experienced coach, wherever that is. She’s going to need much better coaching, and a much better team around her. That’s for sure.”
Despite having over 400 days to prepare, Rousey didn’t offer anything new to counter Nunes’ aggressive style. Florian didn’t see any improvements from her last fight.
“She had 411 days to improve as a striker, and unfortunately for her, just wasn’t able to get it done. There really was no difference in what she did against Holly Holm. There was no head movement. There was no variety. There were no angles.”
Following the main event finish at UFC 207, many questions have again been raised about Ronda Rousey. Primarily, the big question is regarding her future in the sport. As that remains to be seen, another very pertinent point has been debated. Similar to the aftermath of UFC 193, Edmond Tarverdyan has been a hot topic
Following the main event finish at UFC 207, many questions have again been raised about Ronda Rousey. Primarily, the big question is regarding her future in the sport. As that remains to be seen, another very pertinent point has been debated. Similar to the aftermath of UFC 193, Edmond Tarverdyan has been a hot topic on the forums.
Just exactly who is Coach Edmond? As inflammatory as the title questions sounds, we’ll simply attempt to look in to exactly who the infamous coach is. Is he really a shyster, or are we all mistaken, thus the reason people keep paying him to coach them?
Edmond’s Striking Coaching
Firstly, let’s take a look at when Ronda Rousey made her transition to pro MMA. Cast your minds back to April 2011, when Rousey was just one fight in to her illustrious career. Standing in front of a mural showing Muhammad Ali and Edmond Tarverdyan and the slogan ‘Nothing Is Impossible,’ this is the oldest known footage of Tarverdyan training striking with Rousey. Later in the article we’ll discuss the topic of Edmond’s Muay Thai belt, for now check out the footage:
Five Years On
Did Rousey’s striking this past weekend look like the product of five years worth of expert development? Progressing from this question, is Edmond Tarverdyan qualified to be teaching a world-class MMA champion to strike? The mural on the wall in Edmond’s gym shows him standing with the WBC international Muay Thai belt. Tarverdyan (17-2) was supposed to fight an equally experienced Brian Carlos for the belt on September 8th 2007, but something happened. His opponent pulled out, and Edmond instead faced 5-1 Ben Yelle. The replacement was not considered viable or experienced enough to compete for the international title, and so the belt was changed to the USA title.
Still an accomplishment no doubt, and Tarverdyan defeated Yelle for the USA belt. Possibly because of the short notice nature of the fight, Tarverdyan was handed the international belt in victory. Tarverdyan was listed on the official WBC website and in the national rankings as the USA champion. Writing on his own this website Tarverdyan promoted himself as the WBC international champion, claiming a 59-6 record in combat sports.
Boxing Smart?
Here’s where the experience part becomes blurred. On his official websiteEdmond lists himself as the WBC international champion. In the same year his USA title fight took place, Tarverdyan told LS Magazinehe had over 300 fights with a 90% win ratio. Tarveryan’s Armenian wikipedia page (he doesn’t have a US-based page) claims he is “currently the WBC Muay Thai International Welterweight Champion.” The page features no other information about Tarverdyan.
History
During January of 2016, we learned that the California Athletic Commission had revoked Edmond Tarverdyan’s corner license. In applying for his ‘seconds’ license in Boston, Tarverdyan had fraudulently filled in his application, neglecting to disclose his criminal history. What criminal history you ask? Two counts of felony identity theft and resisting arrest in 2010 (see below). Once the MMA commission found he’d cornered Travis Browne under falsified information this past January, they contacted the California commission and thus he was served a $5K fine and his licencse was suspended for three months.
Tarverdyan, 34, was arrested in December 2010 on two counts of felony identity theft and one count of misdemeanor resisting arrest, according to public records. The identity theft counts were bumped down to misdemeanors and Tarverdyan ended up pleading no contest to the three charges.
In 2011, the coach was sentenced to one day in jail (with a credit of one day), three years of probation and 30 days of community service, according to court documents. He was also fined $610.
Then came the bankruptcy claim made by Edmond…
Liquidation
Before Rousey’s pivotal title fight against Holly Holm in November 2015, Edmond Tarverdyan’s claim for bankruptcy was announced. Owing banks and creditors across the country $700K, Tarverdyan claimed he was not the owner of Glendale Fighting Club, and owned just $3K in assets. In the same breathcoach Edmond claimed he had no recent income, although he was coach of the reigning women’s bantamweight champion, and the highest earning female fighter ever. Interestingly, Edmond also claimed, on an official court form in his bankruptcy case that he hadn’t filled in tax returns for all of 2013-14. Adding to this, Tarverdyan didn’t remember when he’d last filed his taxes.
Edmond’s debts were as follows:
Chapter 7 bankruptcy is designed for “debtors in financial difficulty who do not have the ability to pay their existing debts.” Among his debts, Tarverdyan lists $136,925 owed to Bank of America, $117,714 to Barclays Bank Delaware, $194,252 to Citibank, $8,836 to Citibank Nk, $163,693 to Citibank South Dakota, $6,411 to Discover, $8,496 to Discover Bank, $11,953 to Glendale Memorial Hospital, $7,294 to HSBC Bank, $22,000 to HSBC Bank Nevada N.A., and $9,817 to Luis Samkow.
Finally, let’s take a simple look at Rousey’s striking development…
Ronda’s Striking
Varying reports of his actual combat experience aside, how has Edmond Tarverdyan done with Ronda Rousey’s striking? Considering the video at the start of the article was mid-2011, he’s performed abysmally. Rousey is a world-class Judoka, her accomplishments in martial arts and MMA are unparalleled. She put her faith in coach Edmond, and clearly he has failed her in a big way. Was Ronda Rousey’s mom right when she blasted Coach Edmond as a fraud who was riding her daughter’s coat tails to success?
Post-Holm
After her harrowing KO loss to Holm at UFC 193, Rousey had a year away from active fighting. Should Tarverdyan have been able to hone her striking in that time? Perhaps, perhaps not. Does he have the credentials of a Duke Roufus, Bas Rutten, or any other legitimate and confirmed martial arts experts? No is the simple answer. Unfortunately for ‘Rowdy,’ she looked amateur in the striking against Nunes at UFC 207. Nobody expected her to outstrike the champion, but if Tarverdyan really was a legitimate striking expert, she would have at least survived, or displayed the defensive fundamentals. Here’s what Edmond said one month after Rousey’s loss to Holm:
“I know how to speak to Ronda. I know Ronda very well. She doesn’t need to watch that fight. The fight is over. It’s about what we’re doing now. It’s my job to watch the footage and I’m dedicating everything I have to Ronda’s rematch with Holly.”
Maybe it’s Nunes herself who is right. ‘The Lioness’ claimed Tarverdyan had ‘convinced Ronda she is a boxer.’ Concluding this article, there’s too much smoke around Edmond Tarverdyan for there to be no fire. Closing out this chapter, there’s really only one way we’ll know if Edmond is the thorn in Rousey’s side. Supposing she gets a new coach and finds success in another UFC run?
Who is Edmond Tarverdyan? Truthfully, we may never know. Looking at his past, we can tell he has lied many times. As for Tarverdyan’s track record as a top-level MMA coach overall, we’ll leave you with this stat:
Reminder – Records since moving to Edmond Tarverdyan’s gym:
Ronda Rousey has broken her silence following her TKO loss to Amanda Nunes in the main event of last night’s (Fri., December 30, 2017) UFC 207 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The formerly dominant women’s bantamweight champion released a statement where she thanked her fans and gave some cryptic details about her future to ESPN.com: “I
Ronda Rousey has broken her silence following her TKO loss to Amanda Nunes in the main event of last night’s (Fri., December 30, 2017) UFC 207 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The formerly dominant women’s bantamweight champion released a statement where she thanked her fans and gave some cryptic details about her future to ESPN.com:
“I want to say thank you to all of my fans who have been there for me in not only the greatest moments but in the most difficult ones. Words cannot convey how much your love and support means to me.
“Returning to not just fighting, but winning, was my entire focus this past year. However, sometimes — even when you prepare and give everything you have and want something so badly — it doesn’t work how you planned. I take pride in seeing how far the women’s division has come in the UFC and commend all the other women who have been part of making this possible, including Amanda.
“I need to take some time to reflect and think about the future. Thank you for believing in me and understanding.”
Rousey didn’t participate in any pre-fight media prior to UFC 207, with her contract for the bout allowing her to do so, and she quickly left the Octagon after her short loss to Nunes last night.
She’s hinted at retirement in the past, telling Ellen DeGeneres her bout versus Nunes was ‘one of the last times’ we would see her fight. That’s never a good statement to hear from a woman heading into a cage to battle the top-ranked fighter in the world, and while it’s easy to pinpoint her mental state now knowing that she lost, it just didn’t appear like she wanted to be fighting all that much at UFC 207.
The belief is that she will retire with nothing left to prove, but many still hold onto the opinion Rousey could bounce back if she would only leave her longtime coach Edmond Tarverdyan for a more successful camp. The Glendale, California-based boxing trainer has fallen under intense scrutiny from many angles, both for supposedly directing Rousey away from the Olympic-level judo which propelled her so many UFC title victories and his oft-criticized style of cornering.
For now, Rousey needs some time to collect her thoughts once again, because few truly know the harsh reality of deciding if you can take on the best fighters in the world any longer.
The MMA world is in disarray following Ronda Rousey’s 48-second TKO loss to Amanda Nunes (highlights here) in the main event of (Fri., December 30, 2017) UFC 207 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, her second straight stoppage loss. Immediately after the fight, many speculated we had seen the last of Rousey inside the Octagon
The MMA world is in disarray following Ronda Rousey’s 48-second TKO loss to Amanda Nunes (highlights here) in the main event of (Fri., December 30, 2017) UFC 207 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, her second straight stoppage loss.
Immediately after the fight, many speculated we had seen the last of Rousey inside the Octagon and many more – including Nunes – suggested she should outright retire.
Most believe Rousey’s recent failures can be mostly attributed to her longtime coach Edmond Tarverdyan, who took an Olympic medalist judoka and tried to make her into a boxer facing the most dangerous female strikers in the world. Tarverdyan has been raked over the coals by nearly everyone, most notably by Rousey’s own mother. ‘Rowdy’ seemed to have fallen in love with her hands when she knocked out Bethe Correia to rousing applause at 2015’s UFC 190, but the tables have clearly turned and it’s tough to decipher if her problems could even be fixed.
However, Rousey’s talent didn’t just disappear, and while she’s got nothing left to prove, the ultra-competitive grappler most likely want to go out like she has after the dust settles. If she does ultimately decide to fighting, there’s little doubt she has to dump Tarverdyan and reinvent herself at a new camp, where she could have a possibility at success. She may just be done fighting, however.
With this kind of advice, it’s no surprise Edmond Tarverdyan is considered a joke… Returning amid at the end of a huge year for the UFC, former women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey had a bad night in the octagon. Reigning champion Amanda Nunes made it ugly early on at UFC 207, and ‘Rowdy’ was gone
With this kind of advice, it’s no surprise Edmond Tarverdyan is considered a joke…
Returning amid at the end of a huge year for the UFC, former women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey had a bad night in the octagon. Reigning champion Amanda Nunes made it ugly early on at UFC 207, and ‘Rowdy’ was gone in under a minute. Having been out of the game for over a year, Rousey’s last fight went down at UFC 193. Her striking game came under fire after the Holly Holm fight, and it was her coach who was mainly taking the heat.
Becoming a target for tons of criticism, Edmond Tarverdyan also felt the brunt of Rousey’s first ever loss. After her performance at UFC 207, don’t be surprised if coach Edmond takes some more flack. Reading exactly what he told ‘Rowdy’ during her loss to Nunes, even more questions are raised about Tarverdyan’s methods.
Coach Edmond’s Corner Advice
Transcribed by BloodyElbow.com, Edmond Tarverdyan’s UFC 207 corner advice is intriguing, to say the least. Instead of giving Rousey advice on what techniques to use, Edmond seemed more intent on randomly blurting out the preferred outcome. Read it for yourself and see what you think:
Tarverdyan: Make her miss, miss, miss! Ronda, make her miss!
Second cornerman: Be patient. Pick your moments
Fight starts. Tarverdyan: Head movement! Head movement! Head movement! Head movement! Head movement! Head movement! Head movement!
Tarverdyan: Yes, move!
Rousey is already taking a few punches at this point, unable to properly defend. She continues to take damage as the following takes place.
Tarverdyan: Hands up! Hands up! Hands up! Catch her! Clinch! Second cornerman: Get to the head!
Rousey is unable to get the clinch, starts taking worse damage as Nunes lands some power shots.
Tarverdyan: Head movement! Good job! Jab!
Rousey is unable to establish the jab or fight back. She takes a defensive position with a high guard on her left side as she continues to take more punishment.
Tarverdyan: Move, move! Come on, please!
Rousey starts to move to her left as more shots keep coming.
Nunes makes her way to Tarverdyan and says a few things before popping her head out of the cage to say a few more bon mots. Edmond remains quiet during this part.
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Analysys
Within the space of just 48 seconds, Edmond Tarverdyan again makes a terrible impression. Similar to when he told Ronda she was winning against Holm, Edmond telling her ‘good job’ while she was being destroyed is just bemusing. Instead of telling her ‘move’ or ‘head movement,’ Tarverdyan needed to give Rousey technical advice. In this scenario, ‘time her strikes and counter with a shot to single or settle for the clinch’ would have been more succinct. Obviously this is a hindsight piece of advice, and means little coming from anyone but Rousey’s trainer.
The sad truth is that if Ronda Rousey hadn’t trained better striking, she wouldn’t have displayed it, defensively or offensively. There’s one man responsible for that, and he may well be the biggest fraud in MMA history, and that’s saying something in this sport.
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is back in the game. After being crushed by Holly Holm’s iconic head kick at UFC 193, ‘Rowdy’ will attempt to win back the belt she once held with conviction. Facing Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, Rousey will have a very hard road to redemption. Whether or not
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is back in the game. After being crushed by Holly Holm’s iconic head kick at UFC 193, ‘Rowdy’ will attempt to win back the belt she once held with conviction. Facing Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, Rousey will have a very hard road to redemption. Whether or not she’ll get that UFC gold again remains to be seen, but there’s plenty of time for reflection before December 30. Particularly interesting in regards to her last fight-Ronda Rousey’s striking game.
Taking on a world champion boxer and kickboxer was never going to be easy for Ronda Rousey. Expecting o come in and bull rush such a seasoned striker was clearly not a good idea, though. Taking her time and capitalizing on the frequent mistakes made by Rousey in Melbourne, Holm put on a striking clinic. Rousey’s performance that night led to many questions about her training. Perhaps it was just an off-night, or maybe there was more to it. Inevitably Edmond Tarverdyan, Rousey’s coach, was put under the spotlight.
Coach Edmond
We’ve all seen the videos of Ronda Rousey’s shadow boxing, and the fruits of her labour at UFC 193. Continuing her training with Edmond Tarverdyan for her return, Rousey’s loyalty to the somewhat controversial coach will either pay dividends or end in disaster, again. Without dwelling too much on what either did right or wrong, it pays to remember the former Olympic Judoka came to MMA with no stand up striking whatsoever.
Following the announcement of Ronda Rousey’s long-awaited return to the octagon, UFC commentator Joe Rogan discusses the influence of Edmond Tarverdyan on her striking game. Here’s what Rogan had to say during his most recent podcast episode:
Joe Rogan on Coach Edmond
“Ronda can do whatever she wants to do. I don’t know what was going on in her head that night, but for her to take a year off to recover is fine. She also had a bunch of injuries too. Whether or not that guy Edmond has had success with his students, you can’t deny that he has worked wonders with her hands. When they were warming up for that Bethe Correia fight, and they were doing pad drills, she looked fantastic.”
“There’s no denying there’s some merit to what he does, unquestionably. You’d have to examine the whole camp. You have a world-class championship race horse in Ronda Rousey. You have to ask yourself, what is the best course for a girl like this. Technically, what are we trying to achieve? Everyone does it differently, some people say you don’t spar and you only do drills-that’s what Donald Cerrone has been doing. Eddie Alvarez does hundreds of rounds sparring in preparation for Rafael dos Anjos.”
“Before Holly knocked out Ronda, I said I thought Holly needed some more fights. I said I thought Amanda (Nunes) was the more dangerous fight, she’s scary. Everybody is talking about Cyborg (fighting Rousey). The thing is she just drains herself even to make 140 pounds. They should just give her a 145-pound division, give her the featherweight belt. She’s a destroyer, she’s so terrifying. That’s the 145-pound champion. I wonder if there’s a 155-pound division to be had? I think she walks around at 170-something.”
Here’s the full episode, skip to 1:09:00 for Joe Rogan’s full discussion on Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Amanda Nunes and more.
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