Morning Report: Tim Kennedy says Ronda Rousey's potential is 'limitless' if she leaves Edmond Tarverdyan
Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
"I hate that guy. I think he's a jerk. I also think he's a terrorist sympathizer."
So, UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy isn't the biggest fan of Ronda Rousey's head trainer Edmond Tarverdyan.
Rousey has endured an incredible amount of abuse from fans following her knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, but most of her contemporaries seem more bothered with the cornering she received following a troubling first round.
"There was coaching and then there was whatever happened with Ronda," Kennedy told Fight Night on 1300 The Zone. "I don't want to diminish that word and call it coaching because that's not what happened in Ronda's corner."
"You definitely have to adjust what you're telling your fighter depending who they are. You have to know who they are. None of us know Ronda well enough to second guess what her coach was doing. Maybe he was doing the right thing? Maybe he was giving her the confidence she needed? Maybe she's someone who needs to operate in confidence? That's just ludicrous, to me, though."
Returning to the stool bloodied and dazed after round one, Rousey didn't appear to receive much help from Tarverdyan. Holm went on to score a head kick KO 59 seconds into round two.
"Ronda had the brakes beaten off her for four and a half minutes," said Kennedy. "Her face is bloody, her nose and lip are bleeding and then you have her coach saying, 'Hey, do the same thing?' Not even like, 'Stick to the game plan. Change levels. Cut an angle and shoot a double leg. Push her up against the fence.' Anything! 'Keep getting punched more.'
Far from a lost cause, Kennedy believes Rousey still has a compelling future if she's willing to make some changes.
"I think she's amazing," Kennedy said of Rousey. "I think her skills are spectacular. I think she is an Olympian. I think her jiu jitsu is sick. I think she's done things in the Octagon that no one else has ever done. Going through No. 1 contenders the way she did has never been done. Anderson Silva would be a close second to her in the showcase of skill sets you can pack into 30 seconds.
"I think Ronda is one of those people like Jon Jones, like Holly. People who are just God's gift to pugilism. You put her with the right coaches, with the right training partners, her potential is limitless. You put her with the guys she's been training with? You get what you got."
All accolades for Rousey aside, Kennedy doesn't expect to see the former champ reclaim her belt from Holm.
"I don't see somebody beating Holly for a while. Until Holly says she's done. As I look through the roster of the 'Cris Cyborg's', who Holly would pick apart. That fight would be fun to watch because you'd finally get to see Holly demonstrate how good her boxing and kickboxing is against someone who thinks they're good. Holly would destroy Cyborg."
http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/11/23/9780384/morning-report-ufc-193-ronda-rousey-holly-holm-tim-kennedy-aldo-mcgregor-mma-news
Tim Kennedy certainly has a peculiar way of making people to read what he is saying, damn...