Prior to her loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, Ronda Rousey dealt with some heavy criticism of her coach Edmond Tarverdyan from her own mother, AnnMaria De Mars. After the loss, which saw no adjustments and questionable cornering from Tarverdyan, the call for Rousey to change up camps and work with someone else came on a much wider scale.
That call isn’t being heard.
“Of course I’m staying [with Tarverdyan],” Rousey said in a new ESPN The Magazine profile. “That’s my mom’s opinion, not mine.
“We didn’t build this in one day, and it’s not going to be taken away from us, from me, from her, from anybody in one day,” Tarverdyan added. “Whatever happens in her career or in her life, we didn’t do all this shit for it to be taken away from us. In life, things are going to be taken away from you. But we always believe in each other. We’re strong next to each other. Being united and being strong helps you get through a lot in this world.”
Penick’s Analysis: Rousey sticking with the “yes” men in her camp and not even considering trying to do anything different is a further sign that this loss maybe hasn’t actually taught her much of anything. She’s placing it all on her own mistakes, not acknowledging any deficiencies in her approach, Tarverdyan’s coaching, or anything along those lines. Thinking the same things from before UFC 193 will work against someone in Holm who proved otherwise is going to set herself up for failure. Not recognizing or accepting what didn’t work can lead to failure if the same approach is utilized in this eventual rematch. It’s sad to see this kind of lack of awareness, and though it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, it suggests that there hasn’t been a lot of reflection over how she wound up in this position. That could prove to be to her detriment.
[Photo (c) Jason da Silva via USA Today Sports]
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