Ronda Rousey's mother has been extremely critical of Rousey's coach in recent days. Now, we have an explanation why.
AnnMaria De Mars explained in an interview with Pro MMA Now's Rhadi Ferguson that it is Edmond Tarverdyan's attitude toward women that makes her the most upset. Ferguson is a former teammate of Rousey's on the United States national judo team.
"Because he is extremely disrespectful to women," De Mars said. "If you read in Ronda's book, you know when she walked into his gym she had been a junior world gold medalist, Olympic medalist, world medalist in judo and he didn't give her the time of day. And he has had that exact same pattern with many women in the gym and I have seen it with my own eyes where they train there and it's basically a waste of their time. And they're talked to in a way that just makes my jaw drop."
Two video interviews were posted this week by LatiNation in which De Mars goes off on Tarverdyan. De Mars said those segments were taped weeks ago, so she didn't think like this would be a distraction for her daughter in training camp. Rousey defends her UFC women's bantamweight title against Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 193 on Nov. 14 in Melbourne, Australia.
Tarverdyan has not responded to multiple requests for a comment on this topic from MMA Fighting.
De Mars feels like she has waited too long to come out publicly with this and she feels like Tarverdyan -- and even Rousey -- are "causing harm" to others by promoting the Glendale Fighting Club gym.
"We talked about it before and last time she was like, 'Oh, I've got a fight coming up,'" De Marssaid. "You only get that pass from me once. Whoever she wants to date, whatever she wants to do in her career, that's her business. But if you're in a situation where you're really causing harm to other people by being used as bait to lure people in there, I think somebody needs to speak out. All I did was say publicly what people have been whispering for years, but no one had the balls to speak up, because Edmond is like that gatekeeper to Ronda. It's just nauseating."
It's not only sexism that bothers De Mars. The former world champion judoka also said that Tarverdyan's performance as a coach hasn't been good, either.
"People actually do worse, but he keeps telling them how great they are, how great they're doing and they stay there," she said. "It's pathetic."
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