UFC 157: Ronda Rousey’s striking coach Edmond Tarverdyan talks about the fight and what’s next

Amid the post-fight media madness Saturday night, we caught up with Glendale Fighting Club’s Edmond Tarverdyan, also known as the striking coach for Ronda Rousey, after the bantamweight champion made a successful first title defense by defeating Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 at the Honda Center.

Tarverdyan’s thoughts on Rousey’s performance:

“Ronda performed amazingly. You know, we got her where we wanted to with her striking. We got her on the cage, again no one can get away from her. That’s where she wants to be. Even if she strikes, you can tell all her striking is molding to where I want it to be. And she’ll get the best of it too. Did a great job, took her down and, yes, she gave up position a little bit. She’s a little bit comfortable too much sometimes. That’s what she told me. And she gave up her back. But you know she’s so tough. She was thinking more of her clothes getting off, her shorts and her bra. So it took her a while to get her off her back, but she did and she got her in a great position and hit her a lot from side control and kept on punching her and gave it to her and hard punches on the ground. Liz is tough. Take nothing away. And then went past her guard and mounted her down and just submitted her.”

How was he reacting when Carmouche got Rousey’s back?

“Well, you know, I’ve been doing this long enough for me to be nice and calm. If you start panicking and screaming, even if she gets out of that position, then your head is all over the place and it’ll cost you after that. And what happens after that when she gets out? So you have to be calm and give calm advice. She was comfortable. I was watching her face. She was comfortable until she got, you know, her face. Liz went through on the face instead of the neck, got her jaw a little bit hurting. Not a problem. Not a problem at all.”

What’s next for Rousey?

“I guess having Miesha Tate fighting Cat (Zingano), we’ll go out and watch that fight. It’s great. She’ll have competition and we love competition. That’s gonna motivate her even though she trains hard. It’s fun to have competition, mentally to know these girls are training hard and they’re coming out there hard. All the girls were out there to witness the main event. The whole crowd was very into the fight and they did an amazing job, both girls, Ronda and Liz. It’s exciting. We’ve got some fights in front of us. That’s what we need — competition. Always. As long as we got good girls in front of Ronda, she’ll step up in competition, I guarantee you guys.”

How is Rousey different than when she first fought Tate a year ago?

“I’ve always said it was the first time Ronda went down to 135. It was a big deal, the weight cut and everything. Now she does it very easily. Very professionally, she makes 135. But it’s the first time you’re always be nervous doing something the first time. But her body has adjusted, she’s very strong now and she’s looking great. She’s improved a lot. She’ll improve every day. I’ll tell you guys, if they want to stand and bang with her, she’ll get the best of it. I’ll keep on saying it. I wish I don’t see that day. I wish she keeps on winning with the armbar, but if it happens, I know she’s gonna get the best of all these girls. She’s a great striker.”

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