Sometime after Liz Carmouche submitted to the signature armbar of Ronda Rousey in a groundbreaking women’s MMA fight at UFC 157, she reached out to her former opponent’s coach for help.
Justin Flores was Rousey’s longtime judo coach during her amateur and professional fighting career, and Carmouche figured he could add new levels to her game. The problem was, she and Rousey were still fighting in the UFC, and with a second fight theoretically possible, he declined.
Cut to 2021, and Flores reached out to Carmouche to ask if she was still interested.