It was 48 seconds but, for Edmond Tarverdyan, it felt like a life-time.
Ronda Rousey stepped into the Octagon at UFC 207 to right some wrongs. She was, instead, jarred from the first flush punch she received and her game-plan went out the window.
UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes threw 44 significant strike attempts during that 48 seconds and connected with 27 of them. The last five were enough for referee Herb Dean to jump in and end the fight.
Audio from Tarverdyan, in Rousey’s corner, was released a week after the fight and showed how distraught he was as his star pupil was being picked apart. A quick snippet of his comments indicate how bereft he was cageside:
“Move, move, move. Clinch, clinch, clinch, clinch, CLINCH, CLINCH, CLINCH.
“No! Noooo. Noooo. Noooo. NOOOOO!
Now, as part of the UFC 207: The Thrill and the Agony, footage of a manic, then crestfallen Tarverdyan has emerged. He was definitely put through the wringer:
Rousey has not done any media since her first round defeat.
She released a statement a day after UFC 207 but is now back on Instagram with a message that suggests she is emerging from her post-fight torpor.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPDxfkgjk65/?taken-by=rondarousey
She’s down but she will be back, in some guise or another.
