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31st Dec 2016

Amanda Nunes says Ronda Rousey’s career is over and she knows who is to blame

Judo, not judon't.

Mikey Stafford

Amanda Nunes cannot understand why Ronda Rousey has moved away from what she knows.

‘Rowdy’ was a bronze medallist in judo at the 2008 Olympics and it was this skill base that made her the most dominant force in women’s MMA until November 2015 when she was deposed as bantamweight champion by Holly Holm.

In Las Vegas on Friday night she suffered a second, devastating, defeat of her career – knocked out in 48 seconds by Amanda Nunes at UFC 207.

Rousey’s future is in doubt but her vanquisher, Nunes, is in no doubt that Rousey “has to retire”.

“She is a millionaire already why would she want to keep doing that? Why would she want to keep getting hurt,” asked the Brazilian, who places the blame for her opponent’s decline firmly at the feet of her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan.

“I knew she was going to strike with me. Because her boxing coach, he told her she had good striking,” said Nunes in her post-fight press conference.

“She thinks she is a boxer. He like put this thing in her head, and make the girl believe in that.

“I don’t know why he did that. She had great judo. She could’ve gone more forward in this division, but he put that crazy thing about boxing [in her head], and her career started going down.”

You can watch the press conference below.