It's hard to soldier on in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) when the one fighter who brought you to the land of milk and honey suddenly calls it quits.
But Edmond Tarverdyan, who helped Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey reach the pinnacle of combat sports, understands that he may never have the chance to work with another athlete like "Rowdy."
Which is why he told Submission Radio he may have no choice but to retire along with her.
"[When] she retires, it’s great and I’m really happy with [the fact] that she has her movie career and she can fall in love with being the [best actress] that she is. I think she does really love it, but she’ll get more into it when she only does that, and she would want to be the best in the world as an actress. And she’ll work very hard for that. It’s great that she has that. A lot of fighters retire, they don’t have anything that they could work hard on and be the best at also, and then they want to come back and fight again. I don’t want to see that happening to Ronda, and that won’t happen. So she’s really intelligent about having her career and acting after she retires. But me, I retire with her, it’s going to be difficult. Why? Because at this age young - I’m only 33 - having a champion like her and then finding another girl that could really - or anybody that could fight at that level - it might be a bit different. But I could never compare two fighters together. As long as I’m a trainer and I could bring the best out of the fighter, their abilities, and as much as they could perform. If they work hard in the gym and they give it their best and they listen and they’re great students and they’re great human beings, and I work with them and they come to a certain point and they win a world title; I should be happy with that and I should be satisfied. And I could always share the great moments of what I’ve done with Ronda, and they should be happy to hear it and learn from it, instead of being jealous about it and not being happy that Edmond always talks so highly about Ronda. It’s because it’s a unique situation and Ronda’s a unique individual. And Ronda, again, there will never be another Ronda Rousey. I have no doubt in my mind that we’re going to be next to each other and we’re going to know each other until the rest of our lives."
If Tarverdyan decides to prolong his career as a trainer, he may need to start looking for a new gym.
Along with a new bodyguard.
Rousey and her coach are both in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, to prepare for "Rowdy's" pay-per-view (PPV) title defense against boxing import Holly Holm, which headlines the UFC 193 extravaganza inside the 60,000 seat Etihad Stadium on Sat., Nov. 14, 2015.
For more on that upcoming fight click here.
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