Breaking News: Edmond Tarverdyan may not be a very good coach…
Those looking for reasons why Ronda Rousey fell from her pedestal faster than anyone thought possible, don’t have to look farther than Edmond Tarverdyan. The controversial coach is often criticized for how he handled Rousey’s strategy heading into her last two bouts.
While Edmond’s background is in Muay Thai, what got Ronda to the top was her Judo. Somewhere along the way Edmond got confused, and began to think Ronda could out-box Holly Holm, and then out-strike Amanda Nunes. These were poor strategies.
Now, new leaked video of Edmond Tarverdyan speaking with Dana White has shed further light on his seemingly delusional belief in Ronda’s striking.
Edmond Tarverdyan at UFC 193
Ronda Rousey’s mother blasted Edmond publicly before UFC 193, describing her daughter’s coach as “terrible” to media. Turns out she was correct, unfortunately she has been unable to convince Ronda of this.
The first real hints that Edmond might not be sharing the same reality as the rest of us came during the break between rounds 1 & 2 against Holly. Despite the beating Rousey received, Edmond seemed quite upbeat with how things were going.
“Beautiful! Stay nice and patient [and] relax. Breathe, okay? Let’s rinse that mouth, don’t swallow it, rinse it. Champ, beautiful work. Listen to me, all she wants to do is catch you with that left hand and come on top with that hook, okay? We’re feinting, we’re keeping both hands up. We’re feinting — a lot of feints when we’re pressing, we’re stepping ahead. A little bit quicker on the step-ahead. She gets frustrated, okay? Your left hook is massive there. It’s there — right hand, left hook, right hand! And then what you gotta do after you let your hands go, back to defense! Press, feint, press, press!* So we can get her where we want her. Once we get her on the cage … we need her on the cage this round and then we’re going to be good, okay? Beautiful. More discipline, more discipline, please let’s go you’re the champ! Discipline!”
Holly, of course, wasn’t just looking to land the hook, she had big plans for a head kick as well.
Here is what almost anyone else would have said to Ronda:
“Damn, watch it Ronda or that tall lady is going to kick your head off! Remember when you won all your fights with armbars? Maybe try an armbar or something. Greg Jackson’s a smart guy.”
Round 2: Rousey vs. Holm – UFC 193
Seemingly, Edmond did not witness the same round the rest of the world did. How he did not see that Ronda was badly out-classed on her feet is anyone’s guess. It goes beyond an unreasonable belief in his fighter, and crosses over into more delusional territory.
The advice Edmond gave to Rousey from the corner in round 2 was as follows:
“Watch the kicks from distance. Hands up, watch that left hand! Watch that right hook now on top. Go, go, press, legs! Hands up! Smart about it. Yes, back to the legs, beautiful! Beautiful, touch! Left hook, right hand!* Hands up! Beautiful! Now you’re working, hands up!”
Then Ronda was knocked out, great job coach!
Holly Holm was a boxer who didn’t transition to MMA until she was 30. Ronda Rousey has 9 MMA victories via submission. Rousey would have had the advantage doing anything other than standing and trading with Holly. She literally fought the worst strategy possible.
Coach Edmond at UFC 207
So then Ronda disappears for a year. She decides what cost her the fight with Holm was all the media she was doing before the fight. So now Ronda says she won’t do any media. She also stayed with Tarverdyan and the Glendale Fight Club.
After having one year to mull over what went wrong and what went right at UFC 193, I’m not sure Edmond ever landed on the correct answer. Somehow, for UFC 207, he coached Ronda to try and strike with Amanda Nunes, arguably the hardest hitting woman at 135lbs.
Edmond only had 48 seconds to yell instructions at Rousey during this fight, but he still made his strategy clear:
Head movement, head movement, head movement, head movement, head movement, head movement, head movement! Yes, move! Hands up! Hands up! Catch her! Please! Head Movement, good jab! Move, move, move, please! Move, move, move, clinch, clinch, clinch! No, no, no! Move out!
(pounding sound)
Move, f*ck!
What Edmond Forgot To Say Was….
“Don’t stand in front of her, WTF! Oh god why didn’t we plan to use your Judo! You won a bronze medal at the freakin olympics! I’m also going through bankruptcy proceedings!”
It’s true, Edmond also went through bankruptcy last year. He claimed during the proceedings that he makes $0 income per year. I guess Ronda had only been paying him what he deserved.
Leaked Video: Edmond Tells Dana That Ronda Has Elite Boxing
Check out these comments Edmond made to UFC President Dana White, convincing him that Rousey takes out champion-level boxers in the 1st round:
In Edmond’s defence, Rousey has knocked out 3 fighters in her career. She knocked out Bethe Correia, Alexis Davis and Sara McMann. She won 9 fights by submission via armbar however, something she moved away from later in her UFC career.
Edmond and Other Fighters
Don’t think that Tarverdyan is ruining just Rousey’s career however. Far from it. Each member of Rousey’s former “4 Horsewomen” stable have all seen their careers plummet after training at Glendale with Edmond.
Shayna Baszler has lost 4 straight and is looking at a career in pro-wrestling now. Jessamyn Duke has lost 5 straight, her last fight having been almost a year ago. Marina Shafir had a promising career ahead of her, but then got knocked out in under a minute in her last 2 fights. She’s now gone 2 years without a fight, and just had a baby.
Then there is UFC heavyweight, Travis Browne. While Browne has been fighting the best of the best at heavyweight, he’s dropped 3 straight. That doesn’t bode well for his chances of cracking the top tier of the division again anytime soon.
Edmond was not in Browne’s corner for his last fight, but Travis insisted that Tarverdyan is still his coach.
Check out this video of Edmond in Browne’s corner:
After Browne’s fight with Fabrico Werdum there was a scuffle in the octagon between Werdum and Edmond. Cameras caught Werdum throwing a push kick in Edmond’s direction, though it was not clear exactly what happened.
Werdum would later say that Edmond said something derogatory regarding his mother. No fines were handed out as a result of the altercation, perhaps because no one was interested in dealing with Edmond any further.
