If Ronda Rousey decides to fight again, she could have an unlikely ally aiding her in the rebuilding process.
Jason Parillo - striking coach for UFC star Cris Cyborg and middleweight champion Michael Bisping - is interested in what kinds of improvements Rousey would make if she considered working with himself and Cyborg. On Wednesday, he told the Extra Rounds Podcast that since a fight between Rousey and Cyborg is unlikely to ever materialize after Rousey's crushing loss to women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, it makes sense for the female fighters to potentially team up.
"They could train together, now," Parillo said, according to Mike Dyce of SI.com. "Cris could help Ronda improve. I wouldn't mind seeing Ronda come down and work with Cris a little bit. If you ask me, that fight's over.
"That fight was just holding on by a string as it was because, if you ask me, Ronda was never going to agree to that fight. Even if she would have blown this Amanda Nunes away. I mean, maybe it would have given her confidence to take on Cris. But really? No."
Much of the criticism concerning Rousey's disappointing performance is tied to her close relationship with coach Edmond Tarverdyan. The 35-year-old Tarverdyan has come under heavy scrutiny for his inability to develop Rousey's striking skills and his poor cornering on fight nights.
Whatever changes Rousey makes to her training camp, Parillo believes that it's time to move on from any talk of her fighting Cyborg and instead focus on a future superfight between his client and Nunes at 145 pounds.
"We're talking about a girl (Rousey) that's just been knocked out, twice," Parillo said. "Cris is … dominating her division. The hype for (Ronda versus Cris) is starting to tilt away. I think there'll be more hype for Amanda Nunes versus Cris Cyborg."
