Ronda Rousey's loss to Holly Holm on Saturday night was a failure of coaching on two different levels.
First, Rousey's game plan was sound in theory—take away the out-fighter's space and force her to fight in close quarters with her back to the fence—but far from ideal in practice. Rousey rushed forward in straight lines, did nothing to cut off Holm's lateral movement with kicks or looping strikes to catch the challenger as she circled out and, in general, had no answer for a fighter who refused to stand in front of her.
Rousey didn't end up striking with Holm because she wanted to strike with Holm; she had to strike with Holm because she couldn't consistently get the challenger to the fence, where it was easier to get into the clinch.
Second, it was obvious that Rousey didn't have the tools to execute a game plan predicated on intelligent pressure. Only once or twice did she actually attempt to cut off Holm's movement, and when she did, her footwork wasn't efficient. For the most part, she chased Holm, which left her overextended and with her face exposed.
That set her up for the punching combinations and elbows that busted up her face and led to the final knockout.
The former champion's punching mechanics went out the window when she got tired and frustrated, which resulted in even more wasted energy. Frankly, it was embarrassing, particularly when she flung herself forward into a punch and ended up on one knee with Holm six feet behind her.
Rousey's lack of tools to execute the game plan is the more damning indictment, because it speaks to how little progress Edmond Tarverdyan has made with her over the last several years. She's a pressure fighter whose entire game is built around aggressive forward movement, and he hasn't taught her how to pressure in an efficient, intelligent and defensively sound fashion.
Rousey is an elite, world-class athlete and a tremendous physical specimen with great size, speed, athleticism and power. But with four years of professional experience under her belt, she should be much further along in the development of her skills on the feet.
Her striking mechanics are still ugly. More importantly, the underlying awareness of where she is in the cage, how to cut off her opponent's movement and how to force the fight into her wheelhouse simply isn't there.
Let's compare her to a few other similarly talented fighters at the same point in their careers to get a sense for just how far behind she is.
Four years into his professional career, former Olympian Daniel Cormier struck and moved his way to a unanimous decision over Roy Nelson and then knocked out Patrick Cummins. Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero knocked out Derek Brunson and brutalized Brad Tavares at exactly the same point in his career.
Both Cormier and Romero, world-class athletes with Olympic experience, mauled multiple opponents on the feet four years into their professional careers. For that matter, Chris Weidman finished Anderson Silva at exactly the same point. All three of those fighters did so by showing strong fundamentals with efficient punching mechanics and clean movement through the space of the cage.
Unlike Rousey, Cormier and Romero were well into their 30s when they started fighting. It's easier to learn new skills in one's 20s than later on, and yet Rousey is still behind.
The difference is coaching. Cormier has been with the American Kickboxing Academy for his entire career, while Romero moved to American Top Team after suffering his only career loss. Weidman has spent his entire career with Ray Longo and Matt Serra. All three fighters have world-class coaches and sparring partners around them on a daily basis.
Rousey has Tarverdyan, whose response to watching his star pupil get out-worked, out-hustled, out-planned and viciously knocked out included the following, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com: "I wouldn't say in the striking game she was getting the best of Ronda, you know, but I have to watch it again."
Seriously? Tarverdyan needs to watch it again to be sure that Holm really beat Rousey on the feet? That's delusional, and while not damning in itself, it speaks to precisely the dynamic that led Rousey to getting plastered unconscious on the canvas in Melbourne.
After a first round that left Rousey battered and clearly in some measure of trouble, and so frustrated that she planted a post-bell cheap shot on her opponent, what did Tarverdyan say? "Champ, beautiful work." In Tarverdyan's defense, he did tell her to breathe and relax, but that was essentially the extent of his advice.
The contrast with Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn in Holm's corner couldn't have been clearer. "She's going to come out a little more desperate this round," Jackson said, and sure enough, he was right. With that warning in mind, Holm's counter game was on point at the start of the second frame.
To make matters worse, in the lead-up to this fight, Rousey's mother, AnnMaria De Mars, referred to Tarverdyan as a "terrible coach" and a "bad person." Given the high level of involvement De Mars has had in her daughter's life and training, the fact that she made that assessment publicly speaks loudly to the dysfunction in Rousey's coaching situation.
That kind of drama can't be good for a fighter who's already dealing with a tremendous number of other commitments.
To get back to the top of the mountain, Rousey can't stay with Tarverdyan.
Rafael Cordeiro of Kings MMA in Huntington Beach would be the perfect fit—he specializes in training aggressive pressure fighters like Rousey—but he already trains Cris "Cyborg" Justino, and it's unclear whether he'd take Rousey on. Freddie Roach might be a possibility, or Rousey could leave Los Angeles entirely and set up shop elsewhere.
She needs to learn more efficient pressure footwork, better head movement as she stalks her opponent and cleaner punching mechanics. If she stays with Tarverdyan, there's no reason to think that any of those things will improve. Someone who thinks that what Rousey did in the first round against Holm was "beautiful work" is unlikely to fix the underlying issues that led her to that situation in the first place.
There are two potential paths forward for Rousey. BJ Penn wrote off his first loss to Frankie Edgar—in fairness, a fight that he probably won—as a fluke rather than a wake-up call and didn't change anything. He kept the same coaching staff, and he was soundly dominated in the second fight, largely through superior game planning and preparation.
Georges St-Pierre revamped everything following his upset loss to Matt Serra. He got new management, sought out new coaches, including the same Greg Jackson who led Holm to victory against Rousey, and ditched the negative influences in his life. Eight years later, he's one of the greatest fighters in history.
Rousey is still young at 28 and only four years into her run as a professional. She has plenty of room left for growth. Most elite fighters at the same stage have yet to even challenge for a title, much less win one and defend it six times. If the aging curves hold up, she has at least five years left of her prime before she starts to fall off.
There's no compelling reason to think that she can't beat Holm with insightful coaching, carefully tailored preparation and an intelligent game plan. Cordeiro took Fabricio Werdum from an embarrassing performance against Alistair Overeem to beating the stuffing out of Cain Velasquez.
What could a coach like that do for a former Olympian like Ronda Rousey?
Patrick Wyman is the senior MMA analyst for Bleacher Report. He can be found on Twitter.
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