In a surprising turn of events, someone has come to the defense of Edmond Tarverdyan, the head coach for Ronda Rousey.
During an appearance on “Submission Radio,” the top UFC female bantamweight contender explained why she thinks the much-maligned coach is actually good for Rousey.
“I think Edmond’s great. I think he’s the only one that could possibly have handled that chick in that type of setting and been able to put up with her crap,” she said. “You know what I mean? What he’s done for Ronda is wonders. I don’t think that anybody could have done a better job than him or that anybody would have put up with as much as bull-crap as he’s put up with, besides him.
“So my hat is off to him. At the end of the day, it’s not necessarily his battle, it’s Ronda’s battle. Edmond can’t get in there and fight for her. So that’s what’s so hard about this sport, it’s live or die by the double-edge sword. You have to be able to perform, like she even said herself, on your worst day possible. And so she wasn’t able to perform, and nobody is to blame besides herself. She can’t say that she wasn’t ready or that she wasn’t prepared. She’s had all the time in the world to get ready for this fight.”
Rousey returned from a year-long layoff and faced Amanda Nunes for the title at UFC 207 last month. Pena, who meets Valentina Shevchenko later this month at UFC on FOX 23, believes it should have been her opposite Nunes instead.
“Yeah, absolutely. I thought it was funny because I went into the UFC office and I asked Dana for the title shot and he said, ‘No, we’re not going to give it to you yet because Ronda’s coming back,’ and I said, ‘Well you should give it me because I’ll put up a better fight than she will,'” Pena said. “And he said, ‘No, well her name’s big, you know, it’s Ronda Rousey. You’re just going to have to fight one more time and then maybe you’ll get a title shot.’ And then so at that point I was frustrated and I knew I wasn’t going to get it, so I just had to except those terms and conditions.
“And then when I watched the fight and saw that Ronda laid an egg, I kind of hit the nail on the head as to what I was saying all along in that she was going to get knocked out. So I was right, and now I look like a genius. So that’s great.”
