Issue 114

May 2014

UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey left her famous armbar at home for UFC 170, instead finishing challenger Sara McMann with a devastating knee to the liver

They say you can’t train your liver to take punishment and at UFC 170 UFC bantamweight Sara McMann found that out the hard way, when she was dropped with a nasty liver shot from women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

From the moment the opening bell rang, Rousey attacked McMann’s body with jabs and hooks, even eating a few shots herself to make sure she

was able to implement the game plan her head coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, had planned for his young protégé.

“The difference between elite fighters is preparation,” Tarverdyan shares with Fighters Only in an exclusive interview. “What you prepare in the gym, is usually what you pull off in the fight. When Ronda was preparing for the fight against Sara McMann, we had a big game plan where she would go to the body.”

So why change the grapple heavy-style Rousey has used to dominate every single opponent she’s faced within MMA? According to Tarverdyan, it all came down to the openings McMann leaves as a wrestler.

“When you go to the body, it stops your opponent’s takedowns. If you shoot in for the legs and your opponent is throwing shots to the body, that strike is going to hit you right on the button,” explains Tarverdyan. “To stop her takedowns we wanted go to the body wherever the fight went.”

While the majority of fight fans were shocked to see Rousey get the TKO victory, Tarverdyan was more than confident this was the way she’d win the fight. He’d had a bird’s eye view of the punishment she’d dished out in the gym during her training camp.

He explains: “Ronda spars three days a week, and while she was sparring in the gym with her sparring partners she’d drop her opponents 20 to 25 times with the same shot.

“Before the fight I did an interview with the UFC and I said to them that this is the fight where Ronda is going to knock out Sara McMann and this is the only fight I’m saying she’s going to knock somebody out. Ronda was sparring with hired sparring partners who included boxing world champions, and the outcome in the gym was similar to the outcome in the fight. There are a lot of talented fighters out there but they can’t use 100% of their ability.”

He adds: “Ronda is the type of athlete who will do 100% of what she has been working on in the gym in the Octagon, so the finish wasn’t a big surprise for me. I was more excited that she’d knocked somebody out with a liver shot.” 

With devastating knees now added to her already stellar mixed martial arts game, Rousey poses an even bigger threat to the rest of the ladies of the UFC’s female bantamweight division.