Four Horsewomen a hit at Glendale Fighting Club clinic

GLENDALE - When first she heard about the “Four Horsewomen Clinic,” Ruby Diaz knew she would be there.

“I saw that Ronda Rousey was having a clinic on Instagram. Automatically, I was like, I’m going, there’s no way I’m not going,” Diaz said.

It made no matter that the clinic was taking place at the Glendale Fighting Club and she lived in El Paso, Texas. When she learned it had quickly sold out, that still didn’t deter her.

“It’s sold out, that doesn’t matter, I’m still going,” she said of her thinking.

Sure enough, the 20-year-old Diaz made a 12-hour drive from Texas to Glendale, though she showed up a day early, mistaking the date of the event.

What awaited was a bonus, as she met Rousey a day early.

“That was my dream come true,” said Diaz, who aspires to a mixed martial arts fighter. “It was so amazing.”

A day later on a hot Sunday afternoon inside the Glendale Fighting Club, Diaz was one of 47 clinic patrons who packed the corner gym to take on the finer points of MMA from Rousey, the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight champion, and her fellow Four Horsewomen, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir.

“Thank you guys very much for coming to our first ‘Four Horsemen Clinic,’” Rousey told everyone at the conclusion of the seminar. “Even if you’re just here for fun or it’s something you’re gonna continue with, the fact that you guys are all here on a hot Sunday … we appreciate you.”

It was the second Rousey-led clinic at the Glendale Fighting Club following her “Don’t Throw Up, Throw Down” event in March of 2013 to raise money for the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services to combat eating disorders. Sunday’s event also raised money for Didi Hirsch.

Rousey, who was recognized on April 24 at the Didi Hirsch Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards for her longstanding work with the charity, said there was some scuttlebutt in the combat world regarding the $200 clinic fee. But that hardly seemed to matter on Sunday, as the original maximum number of 40 participants had been altered to accommodate 47, with another seven showing up just to watch the festivities of listening, learning, drills, autographs, photo ops and free swag.

“There were a lot of people that thought it was a very arrogant and audacious thing to ask for $200,” said Rousey, who boasts a 9-0 record and is set to defend her UFC title against Alexis Davis at UFC 175 in Las Vegas on July 5. “Our response was we sold out in [approximately three days] and everyone had an amazing time.”

Scheduled to run from noon until 3 p.m., Rousey and Co. led the training/teaching portion until roughly 30 minutes after the originally scheduled time and then signed autographs and posed for pictures until the last fans left around 5:30 p.m.

“Very fun, exciting,” said San Dimas’ Bradley Chirino, 13, of the day. “I learned a lot.”

Easily the largest difference between last year’s clinic and Sunday’s was the addition of Duke, Shafir and Baszler, which brought about extra fanfare and a more varied learning experience.

“It was just nice for everyone to get more individual attention,” Rousey said. “With four of us, you’re pretty much getting four times the attention.”

Throughout much of the day, Rousey and Shafir were split off together, while Baszler and Duke were leading another group, whether in the ring, in the cage or on the mats.

“It’s cool in a sense we can show everybody something a little different,” said Duke, a two-fight UFC veteran, of her and her teammates’ differing areas of expertise allowing people to gain a more well-rounded experience. “I feel like people can get a more complete picture.”

Indeed, everyone got an up-close opportunity to work with all of the “Four Horsewomen,” a nickname inspired by the professional wrestling “Four Horsemen” stable of yesteryear that was at its height in the late-1980s National Wrestling Alliance highlighted by Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Barry Windham, among others before and after.

“I think the energy’s cooler because they just spent three hours training with us, so you already know them a little bit,” Duke said. “It’s more personal.”

Baszler, a veteran of 23 pro fights who’s likely to make her UFC debut this year, proved to be the most animated and energetic more often than not.

“I’m generally the one they’re telling to calm down,” Baszler said.

Men and women, boys and girls of varying ages were present, coming from as far as Honduras and Vancouver, British Columbia.

“I think it went fantastic,” said Jessica Bueler, who did a great deal of the leg work in organizing the event and is the CEO of Armbar Nation, Rousey’s official fan club. “We had so many different people of different skill levels, but they explained it in ways that everybody could understand.

“I think that they organized it very well.”

While she was on hand as an observer last year, Shafir, the youngest in the fighters’ stable who made a victorious professional debut in April, took part in teaching her first clinic.

“It was my very first seminar,” Shafir said. “It was fun – a different kind of pressure.”

While it was Shafir’s first seminar, it was a return appearance for some, including 13-year-old Caitlin Cardenas of Indio, who, driven by mom Tina, made a four-hour journey. And the added presence of Shafir, along with Baszler and Duke, added to the appeal.

“I came to [Rousey’s] last seminar,” Cardenas said. “I’ve been following Ronda for a while, but I love them all, I love them all together. I thought being with them all together would be a perfect experience.”

Cardenas is hoping to follow the path laid by the Horsewomen.

“I see myself being able to go pro and be like them,” Cardenas said. “I could learn from the best to be the best.”

Like Cardenas, Chirino has fighting aspirations. He’s currently training in boxing, jiu jitsu and judo, having taken lessons originally in the latter from Rousey, a former Olympic bronze medalist in the sport.

“I wanted to improve on my armbars,” said Chirino of the submission that Rousey has won eight of her nine bouts with. “I wanted to be more efficient in transitioning from my armbars cause that is my favorite submission.”

But people of all skill levels were on hand Sunday.

Brandon Chow, 33, of Costa Mesa made the trip north after forgoing last year’s clinic.

“I knew that they did it last year and I didn’t have the confidence that I was proficient enough, but then I heard they were open to all levels … and it didn’t seem as intimidating,” said Chow, who has seen three of Rousey’s bouts in person. “I liked being able to work with all of them individually on what their strengths are.”

Indeed, those on hand got to know a little about all four fighters who train at the Glendale Fighting Club under the guise of coach Edmond Tarverdyan. And the fighters, got to know plenty about their fans, as well.

“Getting to actually interact on a personal level with the fans and all the people that were here is awesome,” Baszler said.

When the training was coming to a close, Tarverdyan polled everyone, asking for a vote as to who wanted Rousey to defeat Davis in their upcoming bout via armbar or knockout.

The vote was split, but on Sunday, it was less about fighting and more about interacting, teaching and charity. Thus, when the long afternoon concluded, all four combatants were visibly exhausted, but more than pleased.

“It was a long,” Shafir said, “and very gratifying day.”

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Follow Grant Gordon on Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon.