Correia: Rousey’s coach made her believe she’s an excellent striker

At UFC 193, Ronda Rousey’s lack of a fluid striking game was exposed as Holly Holm put on a striking clinic against the champ, who was ultimately knocked out with a headkick heard round the world.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia believes that the end result of the fight was due to the fact that Rousey’s head coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, made Rousey believe she was an excellent striker when in reality that was clearly not true.

She spoke to MMAFighting:

“People made her believe she’s an excellent striker. Her coach made her believe that, and the fact that she beat me standing gave her more confidence. She did her entire camp focusing on her striking, she forgot her judo. It doesn’t matter if you’re born on a judo mat, if you only train boxing you’re going to box. It’s automatic. You do what you train.

“She believed she’s a striker, forgot her background, but Holly did not. Holly knows she’s a striker. Ronda became champion using her judo, not her boxing, but she still wanted to strike with a boxer. That was her mistake. And it was wonderful to watch her get beat up, making mistakes. I loved it.”