UFC 207

[kuniggety]

I just don't know what her and her team were thinking with her going toe to toe in an attempted striking match with a striker. She did one half assed clinch attempt which got thrown off. I would've liked to have seen a single leg or double leg takedown thrown in there.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I just don't know what her and her team were thinking with her going toe to toe in an attempted striking match with a striker. She did one half assed clinch attempt which got thrown off. I would've liked to have seen a single leg or double leg takedown thrown in there.

Strikers shouldn't play the grappling game and grappler shouldn't play the striking game. It would have been different if she had good balance of striking and grappling but she doesn't. Effective striking isn't something that someone can learn in just a few years. She had her elbows out, no head movement , no body movement, and bad guards and that was before the punches landed. Rhonda has always had bad footwork for striking and her kicks are equally horrible.

I actually felt sorry for her because it's so clear that someone didn't train her properly. I had to go back can check here 2016 training just to make sure my ego wasn't getting out of hand. Unfortunately it looks like I'm pretty spot on with the analysis. You can see the elbows pointing out in her training, along with the bad footwork (aka standing in one spot).

She actually has the same problem that one of my students has. She punches without the awareness that her head is open when she punches. By this I means she is so intent on punching that she becomes totally unaware just how close her opponents hand are to her face. In the sparring video she's punching and you can see her opponents hands all over her head.

I would have had her focus on her footwork as top priority, the next would be to train her defense for jabs, crosses, and hooks. Based on what I saw in the match she was so afraid of being hit on the side of her head that she would put that guard up before the punch was even thrown. The last thing I would have worked on would have been 1 punch and 1 kick so that she can set her opponent up for a shoot or a clinch. Rhonda's strength is in her grappling and she should have played to that strength. She would have to train at least 6 years fighting against various types of strikers until she could feel comfortable with handling punches coming in. Only then would I even factor a game plan for her to use striking. Her trainers must really hate her. lol

 

[drop bear]

Strikers shouldn't play the grappling game and grappler shouldn't play the striking game. It would have been different if she had good balance of striking and grappling but she doesn't. Effective striking isn't something that someone can learn in just a few years. She had her elbows out, no head movement , no body movement, and bad guards and that was before the punches landed. Rhonda has always had bad footwork for striking and her kicks are equally horrible.

I actually felt sorry for her because it's so clear that someone didn't train her properly. I had to go back can check here 2016 training just to make sure my ego wasn't getting out of hand. Unfortunately it looks like I'm pretty spot on with the analysis. You can see the elbows pointing out in her training, along with the bad footwork (aka standing in one spot).

She actually has the same problem that one of my students has. She punches without the awareness that her head is open when she punches. By this I means she is so intent on punching that she becomes totally unaware just how close her opponents hand are to her face. In the sparring video she's punching and you can see her opponents hands all over her head.

I would have had her focus on her footwork as top priority, the next would be to train her defense for jabs, crosses, and hooks. Based on what I saw in the match she was so afraid of being hit on the side of her head that she would put that guard up before the punch was even thrown. The last thing I would have worked on would have been 1 punch and 1 kick so that she can set her opponent up for a shoot or a clinch. Rhonda's strength is in her grappling and she should have played to that strength. She would have to train at least 6 years fighting against various types of strikers until she could feel comfortable with handling punches coming in. Only then would I even factor a game plan for her to use striking. Her trainers must really hate her. lol

Being bashed by a better striker is uncomfortable.

There is no real game plan that avoids that.

 

[Kickboxer101]

In fairness, a big part of why she looked bad in her fight with Holly Holm is that she got caught with a hard shot early on and was essentially operating with a severe concussion for the entire fight. I didn't see last nights fight, but it sounds like the same thing except it didn't last so long.



I kind of wonder if Ann Maria's comments were part of why Ronda refused to drop Tarverdyan. Could be some rebellion against parental advice going on there.

Honestly I have to believe that part of the reason her head isn't right I'd because of her mother. In her book she says her mum went mad if she ever lost and told her she has to win everything. In theory that's not a bad attitude but it seems she took that to literally and she seems to rely on her mum to much. Heck she got into a car accident and called her mum first before the police and spends the day of her fights getting her mum to tell her why she will win.

She can't take losing I mean she lost in the Olympics and quit judo and gained a lot of weight, she lost to holm and wanted to kill herself. There's something seriously not right when you get paid 3 million for losing and want to kill yourself for that hell ill happily get kicked in the head for half that amount lol

 

[JowGaWolf]

get paid 3 million for losing

That's the type of career I need. Put me in the ring right now. lol

 

[JowGaWolf]

Being bashed by a better striker is uncomfortable.

There is no real game plan that avoids that.

There's no game plan to avoid it but playing in the striker's sandbox shouldn't have even been an option. Better time would have been spent learning how to get under those punches or how to smother the punches. Maybe she wanted to prove to herself that she had a striking game after losing her last fight.

 

[Kickboxer101]

That's the type of career I need. Put me in the ring right now. lol

Lets do it lol we can be the next bob sapp take 1 punch hit the floor and tap out get a good paycheque easy lollol

 

[Buka]

Honestly I have to believe that part of the reason her head isn't right I'd because of her mother. In her book she says her mum went mad if she ever lost and told her she has to win everything. In theory that's not a bad attitude but it seems she took that to literally and she seems to rely on her mum to much. Heck she got into a car accident and called her mum first before the police and spends the day of her fights getting her mum to tell her why she will win.

She can't take losing I mean she lost in the Olympics and quit judo and gained a lot of weight, she lost to holm and wanted to kill herself. There's something seriously not right when you get paid 3 million for losing and want to kill yourself for that hell ill happily get kicked in the head for half that amount lol

I think her mom is the only thing holding Ronda together. She's a very intelligent woman, including a PHD in in Educational Psychology, which I'm sure comes into play in their relationship.

The problem as I see it, isn't Ronda relying on her mom too much, it's not listening to a damn thing her mom advises.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Man I'm good. I knew it couldn't have been my ego. lol. Well now it is, but when I made my statements it wasn't.
I just saw this video from Nunes. See the 3:20 mark. I also just found that she had the same coach that she had in her first loss. Holy cow. Didn't her mama tell her not to deal with that man. Buka nailed it. Not listening to her mom. Even Nunes was like. WTF!?! that's her coach? lol

 

[JowGaWolf]

Lesson from the fight. Don't let this guy be your coach.
Edmond Tarverdyan
Rousey's mom's opinion of him from first fight. No need to put the updated interview because she still feels the same. I like how her mom carries herself when she's gets questions from the press.

 

[Tames D]

That's the type of career I need. Put me in the ring right now. lol

Well... when you create the drawing power she had, then you will have no problem finding a promoter to pay you that much money to win or lose

 

[JowGaWolf]

Well... when you create the drawing power she had, then you will have no problem finding a promoter to pay you that much money to win or lose

What I need is to fight a bunch of chump no name fighters with no skills, get famous, fight someone at the top and take a reasonable loss. If possible I want to lose against a grappler. Strikers just want to hit and kick, they like to mess up people's faces. Fighting a striker would cost double, because at that point I'm just posing for great UFC fight pictures.

I'm still trying to figure this picture out. Not sure why her face stuck that way. Nunes hit her with the same row of knuckles that Jow Ga uses. Lately it's been really difficult to find gloves that cover those knuckles. My current gloves have had it.

 

[Dinkydoo]

I was excited to see what Rousey had been working on over the past 13 months although unfortunately, it appears as though her coach and/or training methods need changing, because that was terrible.

No head movement

Totally unprepared to be punched in the face (has she been sparring with a face sheild on this entire time?)

Zombie walking with eyes shut in an attempt to clinch

Punching with the arms only

For a pro fighter, these things are unacceptable.

What a fight the co-main event was though. I can't wait to see TJ vs Cody; Garbrandt's boxing was just way too tight for Cruz on the night and the showboating throughout made for such an enjoyable spectacle.

 

[Tez3]

Punching with the arms only

There's a video going around on FB showing Rousey shadow sparring at various times. She was dreadful, I'd thought perhaps she was just messing around for the camera but a lot of people said no, this was really her, being serious. Really, really not good.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Holmes and Nunes are just better overall athletes than Rousey with better attributes. That is why she lost. She is great at what she does but in the fight game nobody stays at the top forever! There is always someone coming up that is hungrier and with more on the line than the champ!

 

[JowGaWolf]

There's a video going around on FB showing Rousey shadow sparring at various times. She was dreadful, I'd thought perhaps she was just messing around for the camera but a lot of people said no, this was really her, being serious. Really, really not good.

I saw those videos too. I think you are being too kind. Is there a stronger word than dreadful.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Holmes and Nunes are just better overall athletes than Rousey with better attributes. That is why she lost.

But Rousey's striking techniques are examples of bad fundamentals. Fundamentals fall under the responsibility of the coach and are the things that good coaches regardless of the sport will ride their athletes about until they get it right. The reasons why coaches are so hard on athletes about fundamentals is because you can't be good without them.

I can't say she was outskilled because it may have gone a different way if she fought where she was strong. Here time would have been better spent if she trained on how to defend against the punches and how to neutralize them so that she could get her ground game working, and she couldn't even do that, because she was too busy fighting where she was weak.

It's one thing to see that someone has good fundamentals but they get out skilled in the ring. But when you see a fighter without the fundamentals then that's all on the coach. If his job was to teach her boxing, then before she learned all of the fancy shadow boxing and stuff, he should have made sure that she had her fundamentals "on point."

See video at 0:53. She is clearly shooting the energy from her punch out of her shoulders and elbows, instead of sending that energy out of her fists. This is such a fundamental that kids in martial arts schools can barely get away with punching like that. Yet here we have a professional coach letting his fighter get away with it.

Anyone that will trains any type of striking would shake their head in disbelief to see a professional fighter fight like that. Like Dinkydoo stated "For a pro fighter, these things are unacceptable." Her coach is as close as one will get to an example of a McDojo boxing school. If he doesn't train his other fighters like this, then he's an A-Hole for "short changing" her and making her think she could strike. Even Nunes even stated as much.
Quote from Nunes
“She thinks she’s a boxer. He put this in her head and make the girl believe in that. I don’t know why he did that,”

 

[Buka]

We've all seen other training clips of Ronda, too. Where her coach has on the body shield and punching mitts. Where she'll throw a combo to the body and he'll paw at her head with a wax on motion, she'll bob under and counter. Looks pretty cool, but it's not. To me, it's done so she'll look good doing it. Not to try and fool anyone, not even to fool Ronda. It's just a drill, and from what I've seen and listened to from his camp, he just does what he does and nothing else. And drills like that are done to a pace and a beat. If not integrated into ring fighting practice, they are for naught. When you do that drill with the pads, you are doing it to keep a metered beat for your trainer. When you do that drill with someone punching your head, you do it so as to not get punched in the head. You develop your own broken rhythm to interrupt your opponent and hit him without letting him hit you.

If you saw the fight - right from punch one landed, it was over. Ronda was no longer a Judoka, she was a person that didn't know anything about punching, suddenly thrust into a punchers roll. (again)
She was a world class Judoka, we're talking top of the food chain here. But she never knew squat about striking, especially a boxing style of striking. She gets mixed up in that gym and does just what she's told. And she continued to have great success - because she was still fighting like a world class Judoka fights.

It started to change - she wanted to punch. She especially wanted to knock out Bethe Correia. And it was around that time that Ronda started fighting like a person learning how to throw punches, and not like the world class Judoka that got her where she was.

Yes, I know you need more than just the Judo skills. But what that Glendale Gym did to Ronda was akin to making Rickson Gracie a spin kicker and have him forgo grappling.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Almost impossible to train a Judo athlete that has done it all her life and turn her into a world class striker. Probably not going to happen. Buka hits a lot in his post above that is very accurate.

Still, the sport is evolving and Rhonda has good attributes but not great compared to other female athletes out there. Those athletes are also weight training to enhance their attributes which Rhonda does not. They are also probably using performance enhancing drugs, etc. Which Rhonda may or may not be using.

She was absolutely great until she was exposed by Holly Holmes. Now the blue print is too simply not rush in until you have popped her in the face a few times. After the beating she received from Holly any time going forward that she gets popped she may mentally wilt. Attributes, game plan and psyche are a big part of why certain athletes win. Personally, I hope she retires because the better ladies in this division may have a field day with her going forward.

 

[Dinkydoo]

There's a video going around on FB showing Rousey shadow sparring at various times. She was dreadful, I'd thought perhaps she was just messing around for the camera but a lot of people said no, this was really her, being serious. Really, really not good.

I've had a look at them - and I cringe every time.

My conclusion is that her coaching has been absolutely appalling and that everyone else who she's trained with during her camp is also either useless, a yes man or she's not listened to the advice and corrections they've given her.

As Jow Ga has said, there really isn't any excuse for such a lack of fundamentals.

Thing is, her judo is awesome and exciting to watch, I hope she can turn it around.