Bellator featherweight Georgi Karakhanyan formerly trained at Edmund Tarverdyan’s Glendale Fighting Club, and has worked with a number of people in Rousey’s camp, including at times ‘Rowdy’ herself.
After Rousey’s loss to Holm at UFC 193, there have been widespread calls that Rousey should change camps. There is no one who would rejoice more should that happen than Ronda Rousey’s mother, Dr. AnnMaria De Mars. De Mars is first American to win gold at the world Judo Championship, a 6th degree Judo black belt, the CEO of 7 Generation Games, and does consulting work in statistics.
“I think Edmond is a terrible coach,” she said. “And I will say it publicly. I think he’s a terrible coach, and I think he hit the lottery when Ronda walked in there.
“And I think it’s bad that he uses her to lure other people in. And the reason I tell everyone – I told Ronda I’m not going to be quiet about it – he’s a bad person, and people should not go there.”
“I hate him. I would run over him with my car in there wasn’t a law against it. Yes, you can say his name. Who the f@$% is he? He’s not like f@$%ing The Nameless One from Harry Potter.
“I HATE that guy. He’s like the most worthless human being God ever put on this Earth.”
Karakhanyan too was asked if Rousey would benefit from a change.
“I think Ronda, she makes her own choices,” said Karakhanyan to Marc Raimondi for MMAFighting. “Maybe she should listen to her mother a little more. And I think whatever her mother wants her to do, she should do it. I don’t think it’s my call for her to leave whoever. Whatever she wants to do.”
“You can’t blame the coach all the time. But let me tell you one thing, too. Looking good on the mitts? Everyone can look good on the mitts. I can shadowbox for 10 hours in front of the mirror and it’s like false information for myself. Like, ‘Oh man, I’m ready for this fight.’
“But when you get hit with MMA gloves, it’s kind of a different story. It kind of showed that, to me, that Ronda couldn’t take a punch with MMA gloves. I know I’m gonna get a lot of s— for this. I thought Holly Holm played very smart and Ronda just couldn’t even take her down.”
“She needs more sparring with maybe MMA gloves instead of boxing gloves. You can grab anyone from the street and mitt them up every day and in six months they’ll look ridiculous on the mitts. I think MMA has its own stand up. I think if you disagree with that, you’re gonna hit moments like that. I think MMA has its own stand-up and you have to respect MMA. Just like how we respect boxing, because boxing has its own science. But if a boxer comes to MMA, he’ll get his ass taken down and TKO’d or submitted.”
“I think she opened up a lot of windows for a lot of women to get into MMA. She did a lot of stuff. It’s kind of unfair for a lot of people to criticize her this much.
“She’s done a lot for this sport of MMA. I think if she trains a little differently, she’ll be the champion again. But Holly Holm is on a different level.”
Karakhanyan, fights Daniel Weichel in the co-main event of Bellator 147 on Dec. 4 in San Jose.
