- Ronda Rousey’s former coach Edmond Tarverdyan remembered the moment “Rowdy” agreed to fight Holly Holm in less than a month after Dana White allegedly offered her $4.5 million payout
- Tarverdyan is still hurt by what transpired at the time
Ronda Rousey’s former coach lamented how an alleged offer from UFC president Dana White prompted the former women’s bantamweight champion to defend her title with not enough time to prepare.
Ronda made the wrong decision
In an exclusive clip from the Rousey documentary, “Dark Side of the Cage,” her former coach Edmond Tarverdyan looked back at the moment “Rowdy” made the biggest mistake in her UFC career. As per Tarverdyan, Rousey knew they only have less than a month to train but White allegedly tabled a potential payout of over $4.5 million.
This apparently made Rousey agree to defend her title against Holly Holm at UFC 193 on November 14, 2015, just three months after she knocked Bethe Correia out at UFC 190.
“I think we had like 28 or 29 days. It’s so hard for you to compete at that level. You know, in those circumstances. So, I said, ‘Are you asking me should we fight or you already agreed? And she said, ‘You know what I did already,'” Tarverdyan recalled.
Tarverdyan broke his promise to Ronda
What Tarverdyan suspected eventually happened. Rousey suffered an upset loss to Holm. To this day, Tarverdyan is still heartbroken by the fact that he failed to keep his promise to “Rowdy.”
“I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I’m sure I said, ‘I love you,'” Tarverdyan remembered. “Just stay strong. The promise I made, you know, that really hurt me. Because when I think about it, when I saw her at the hospital, it was because I made a promise, you know. And it didn’t happen… That she’ll never lose. That’s the hard part.”
More about Rousey’s downfall will be tackled on “The Disappearance of Ronda Rousey” episode of Dark Side of the Cage which premiered on Wednesday on VICE TV.
