A lot of people have taken potshots at Ronda Rousey and her coach since her stunning defeat at the hands of Holly Holm back in November. But even knowing her past history of strong opinions, it’s still kind of shocking to hear Ronda Rousey’s mom, former judo great AnnMaria DeMars, talking some of the most brutal trash of all.
She once said she’d run Tarverdyan over with a car if it wasn’t illegal, and now she’s predicting doom if Ronda stays with him. Via Submission Radio (transcribed by MMA Fighting):
“I predicted it in advance,” De Mars said of Rousey’s knockout loss. “Ronda trained with an idiot. She trained with an idiot and a fraud. I would be shocked to find out that guy has any record at all. As far as I know, I saw him fight once and he fought somebody that had a record of like 6-20 and won on a split decision. The guy is a fraud. Ronda has a lot of talent. She came into that gym with a very strong background of training at the Olympic level and it carried her a long way.
…
“The difference between me and these other fighters’ moms is that I actually was a world champion,” said De Mars. “I didn’t just make it up and put it on my website. I actually really did compete for 14 years. So when someone is talking about coaching I know if it’s bulls**t and this guy is a complete fraud. It didn’t surprise me for a second. I don’t claim to know everything but I know what it takes to win a world championship. I know what good coaching is. I told Ronda more than once, ‘I know what training to beat the world looks like and this isn’t it.’ ”“If she changes gyms she could go dramatically further,” said De Mars. “Even if she was with a good coach I think going to a different place would really improve her. When you’re with someone who wants to keep you from going to other places, that’s a bad coach that doesn’t have your best interests at heart.
Ouch. Ronda’s mom has trashed Tarverdyan personally in the past but this time she’s crapping specifically on the quality of the training. Well, that and him being a fraud. Meanwhile, Ronda has already affirmed that she’ll stick with her current coach regardless of what the haters think.
But Ronda’s stubborn insistence that Edmond can do no wrong is ridiculous. When she first arrived at the Glendale Fighting Club, he spent the first several months ignoring her. They laugh about it now but that’s a pretty serious indicator that the guy doesn’t always make the best decisions. He’s also tied up in bankruptcy (and possible bankruptcy fraud) proceedings and lost his cornering license over falsifying papers submitted to the commission.
That part from Ronda’s mom about wanting to keep her in one gym also sounds legit. In a recent interview with ESPN, Tarverdyan seemed resistant to the idea of even bringing other boxing coaches in. Meanwhile, other greats like Georges St-Pierre used to split his time between Tristar in Montreal, the Gracies in New York, and Greg Jackson’s in Albuquerque, among others. His head coach Firas Zahabi never had an issue with that.
Tarverdyan is also a boxing coach first and foremost. I’m sure he’s improved her hands, but how’s his knowledge of striking in mixed martial arts? Can Ronda still land those combinations when getting slammed with an inner thigh kick? Has she been working boxing to the detriment of her other skills? Ronda used to have an unstoppable judo throw, but Holly Holm’s team identified how she set it up and managed to neutralize it. If she was still working her bread and butter, she would have had another throw or trip in her back pocket.
So you can add this to just another voice calling out for Ronda to diversify her training at the very least. That’s a very friendly way to put AnnMaria DeMars’ words. More accurately, she wants him to ditch her ‘idiot fraud’ of a coach before he ruins her career.
(Via Submission Radio and MMA Fighting):