What’s the story?
Ronda Rousey recently suffered her 2nd consecutive defeat against Ultimate Fighter Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes by way of knockout (KO) in the first 48 seconds of the first round at UFC 209. Rousey attempted to pick up the pieces after losing the first fight of her career against Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November of 2015 but to no avail. There has been a ton of speculation to what has lead to her performance decline; her mother has openly criticized her coach Edmond Tarverdyan, claiming that he is the reason for Rousey’s poor output.
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Rousey has been one of UFC’s most polarizing figures over the past 5 years, mainly because of her dominating charisma and her quick first round finishes. 9 out of 12 of her victories as a professional, has come within one minute in the first round. She entered a realm of stardom that no one else has ever been before, with the exception only to Conor McGregor.
The heart of the matter:
Tarverdyan has told stories to the public about how Rousey was KO’ing boxing champions in sparring matches in training camp before her fight. Apparently, these stories were false all along, former WBC boxing champion Diana Prazak, who has sparred with Rousey, spoke with Sky Sports regarding Rousey’s striking
"She's not a boxer, that's not something you pick up in a couple of months. I started working with Ronda over two years ago but, but when she was going to fight Holly Holm, they stopped me being her sparring partner. Our spars were always battles, they were harder than the fights she was having. We had great sparring - she was getting better. My opinion? It wouldn't have been good for her confidence to keep sparring me, and not being successful. Edmond made that decision. She isn't a striker."
Prazak also eluded to Ronda’s camp not being the right fit for success in her future. She also reached out to Taverdyan and asked him why he lied about Rousey KO’ing her during their sparring sessions.
What’s next?
Rousey’s future is undecided, she has left us with an Instagram post to disect during her time of silence.
SportsKeeda’s Take:
In my opinion, Rousey’s performance gave the impression that she was not prepared for this fight. She made no corrections from her previous fight and that is defitnely a reflection of her coach. I do feel that Taverdyan is receiving more blame than he deserves, but a change in Rousey’s camp (If she doesn’t retire) will be the best course of action for her going forward.
