Edmond Tarverdyan

Head coach Edmond Tarverdyan has become synonymous with Ronda Rousey as the UFC women’s bantamweight champion continues to take the sport by storm.

Tarverdyan almost wasn’t there, though, he said, because he turned a cold shoulder to Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at the beginning of her MMA career.

Rousey first entered Tarverdyan’s gym, Glendale Fighting Club in Glendale, Calif., months prior to her amateur debut in August 2010. She hadn’t yet discovered the best way to apply her Olympic-level judo skills to another aspect of life and wanted to see how she’d take to MMA under Tarverdyan’s tutelage.

The coach, though, said he was not particularly interested. As a longtime trainer of male professional boxers, the idea of training a female from a grappling-based background didn’t provide much inspiration, he said.

“I’ll be honest: When she came in, I didn’t want to train her because I had my hands full,” Tarverdyan said in a recent interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “I was like, ‘What’s this girl doing? What is she going to do with this? Is she serious? Is she not?'”

Tarverdyan allowed Rousey to train at his academy, but he provided her with little to no personal attention at first, he said. Rousey frequently showed up, though, and as she’s done throughout her budding career, the 28-year-old turned heads in a hurry.

Ronda Rousey and media

“Ronda’s an amazing student; I figured that out right away,” Tarverdyan said. “Within the three, four months she was in my gym, I would tell her to go stay on the bag, and she would hit the bag and really hit the bag until I paid attention to her again. She would have a lot of patience and have a lot of understanding and would work very hard. After like three, four months of being in the gym, I gave her a few pointers.”

The turning point came when Rousey made her amateur MMA debut. Tarverdyan said he was contacted by Rousey’s manager and invited to attend the contest. Typically he would have passed on the offer, he said, but Tarverdyan had a unique feeling about “Rowdy.”

“They called me literally the day they got her an amateur fight; her manager called me and said, ‘Hey, we got a fight for Ronda. Are you in the area and think you could come through?'” Tarverdyan said. “I don’t know what hit me, but I was like, ‘Maybe I should respect this girl. She’s an Olympic medalist, and everyone is talking about how Ronda’s an Olympic medalist and a cool girl.’ I was like, ‘Maybe I should check this girl out.’ I went to her locker room and wrapped her hands, and I could tell she was excited I was there. I wrapped her hands and said, ‘Keep your hands up.'”

Like all of Rousey’s fights, the bout was swift and decisive. Rousey used her patented armbar to score a 23-second submission victory and begin her climb to the UFC belt, which she was awarded less than three years later.

Rousey had minimal high-quality training for her first fight but still managed to shut down her opponent. Tarverdyan said he saw something special in that performance and has latched onto Rousey since.

“Her speed, power, explosiveness without even having that top level of training, the way she did it, I knew she was a real athlete, a real fighter,” Tarverdyan said. “She has all the plusses, and I knew it could be way better done.”

Over the past five years, Tarverdyan and Rousey have formed a closer personal bond that goes beyond a coach-fighter relationship. Rousey has flourished because of it and is arguably now the sport’s biggest star.

Ronda Rousey

Rousey’s skills have also evolved tremendously under Tarverdyan’s watch. She started as a dangerous grappler who would ground opponents with ease and lock in the armbar in a matter of seconds. She’s still more than capable of that, but in recent fights, her striking has become a cornerstone of her success.

The champ scored a vicious knockout of Bethe Correia in just 34 seconds at UFC 190 in August. The victory showed Rousey’s standup ability, but her greatest test in the striking realm will likely come in next fight against former pro boxer Holly Holm, which headlines UFC 193 on Nov. 14 in Melbourne.

Rousey is a massive favorite against Holm and is expected to leave the octagon with her title reign intact. The lone standout challenge for Rousey beyond Holm is against longtime rival Cristiane Justino.

A fight with “Cyborg” has been a hot topic in the sport for years. Many believe the Brazilian poses the biggest threat to Rousey, but the fight has never materialized because of several obstacles, the primary being the weight class.

Rousey recently stated her career would feel “unfinished” without an eventual grudge match against Justino. Tarverdyan said he would relish the opportunity to coach Rousey for that fight but also made it clear he doesn’t see it being as competitive as most others.

“When you have an athlete, you need to know what to do; Ronda is the biggest, the fastest and the strongest fighter,” Tarverdyan said. “Ronda – we’re talking about ‘Cyborg’ here – Ronda would with one hand, would toss around ‘Cyborg.’ She won’t know where she is, even at 145. The problem is, it has to be fair, the fight. We do it pure. She’s never done anything unfair when it comes down to sports.”

For more on UFC 193, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.