Amanda Nunes of Brazil and Ronda Rousey face off in their UFC women's bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 207 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 30, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo : Getty Images/Christian Petersen)
Amanda Nunes was expecting a tough fight against Ronda Rousey at UFC 207, one of the biggest name fights she has had so far. Unfortunately the opponent that came out was not the one the “Brazilian Vixen” was expecting, claiming that “Rowdy” may have been overrated.
It was an entirely different Ronda Rousey at UFC 207, someone lacking the confidence seen in her previous fights. Also noticeable was the fact that even if she was out of the scene for over a year, Rousey still had no resolve to the vaunted strikes coming from opponents.
Nunes has been known to be a good striker and most were under the impression that Rousey and her coach (Edward Tarverdyan) would have come up with a counter for such. Apparently, there was not and the result was a worse performance compared to UFC 193 when Rousey lost to Holly Holm.
Now that the worst is over, Nunes has come out to ask how Rousey became a household name. She pins the blame in part to Tarverdyan who she felt did a poor job preparing the former UFC women’s bantamweight champ, the NY Post reported.
Overall, Rousey has done a lot to the division with Nunes now the new face of the women’s category. The Brazilian is on a five-fight winning streak, including a title-clinching win off Miesha Tate.
And while Nunes is looking forward to her next fight, the same cannot be said for Rousey. “Rowdy” mentioned before that her UFC 207 clash would be one of her last ones inside the Octagon though some believe it should be the final hurrah.
The answer to that remains to be seen. Rousey plans to take some time off (again) and reflect. She may come back to fight once more but Nunes believes she would be best focusing on a craft suited for her – Judo.
Rousey rose to stardom with that martial arts and Nunes believes it is better than forcing herself to believe she is a boxer. There are some boxing coaches ready work with her, including Jason Parillo who handles Rousey’s rival Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino.
Parillo welcomes the idea which may inadvertently see Rousey and Cyborg working together, MMA Mania reported. Knowing the animosity between the two, this setup remains to be seen.
For now, check out the video of Amanda Nunes’ take on Ronda Rousey in the video below.
