As an exultant Amanda Nunes jogged away from a hunkered, semi-conscious Cris Cyborg, and a near-capacity crowd at The Forum exploded into pandemonium, Jason Parillo could be seen cupping his face in dismay.

A lingering, gnawing fear, one which took up residence in his psyche long ago, had just come to fruition. It wasn’t so much that Nunes (17-4 MMA, 10-1 UFC) had usurped his pupil as the UFC women’s featherweight champion, but what transpired during those 51 manic seconds in Inglewood, Calif.

The co-main event of UFC 232 is likely to be best remembered for Nunes – already the bantamweight queen – becoming just the third fighter to concurrently reign over two UFC divisions. But for Parillo, it was the occasion of a reckoning that could no longer be avoided.

“I saw Cris go out there and beat herself,” Parillo told MMAjunkie. “I’ve said it in many interviews before, and it was always my biggest concern – which is her just going for broke, losing the plot and swinging wild. Just going back to old school Cyborg.

“Because I told her that the higher we climb the ladder, we’re not going to be able to get away with this style. We need to think a little bit more and stay behind the jab.”

Fights often hinge on a single moment and, with just 24 seconds on the clock, the bout changed irrevocably. Nunes drove her shin into Cyborg’s calf, then unloaded two strikes in quick succession.

It was exactly then, Parillo is sure, that Cyborg (20-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) submitted to emotion and went in search of immediate gratification, as supposed to moving cautiously towards the victory they had planned for.

“I know Cris. I know my fighter and saw the way she reacted to that leg kick when it hit her,” Parillo explained. “Instead of moving out and staying behind her jab, she went for broke off the get-go and got caught doing it.

“It was very much ‘oh no you didn’t,’ and she just started swinging for the fences. Cris went straight disrespect mode, like she can walk down anybody, but she was in there with a skillful fighter who has a really good punch.

“That’s how maybe Cris was going to get beaten, against someone who has the fortitude to be able to sit in there with that aggressive style. You have to respect Amanda for that.”

Few fighters are less acquainted with defeat than Cyborg, who has made a career of not just beating opponents but obliterating them. Nunes was still a teenager when Cyborg last lost in 2005, so Parillo sees no reason for unduly mourning a winning streak that should be reflected on with great pride.

“Not losing for 13 years, being as dominant as she has, that all adds to the pressure,” Parillo said. “She’s still one of the greatest fighters out there, and her career is not over, but this is a loss, and we lose in this game. It’s about how you handle it.

“Cris and I have talked and texted every day since the fight and, because she has been dominating all these years, this is a new feeling for her, but she still has that fire in her heart. This is essentially a brand new feeling for her, so everything I say has to be sensitive to that. But harsh truths are also what’s going to make you better, sharper and smarter. This is an experience she has to get through, to prove who she is, and I know she will.”

Parillo has spent much of the nascent 2019 wondering if he overlooked or neglected something in preparation for what was the most significant contest since women were welcomed to the UFC roster.

It’s simply part of a coach’s process, sifting through the memory bank for mishaps that seemed benign in the moment but, on examination, might well have augured for the travails to follow.

“I’ve thought a lot about what happened over the camp, how our mentality has changed a little bit because our mental game has been going strong for a long time now,” Parillo said. “I’ve been thinking about what I could have changed to keep her more focused and her mind where it needed to be. This is my livelihood so, when you lose, you’ve got to think about this stuff.

“Cris likes to do a lot of different things and train at a lot of different places, and sometimes I might think there are too many chefs in the kitchen. I’m not saying that’s what it is but, when you’re on top, everybody wants to be a part of you.”

Multiple dissonant voices, however complimentary, will dilute a camp’s primary focus, according to Parillo, who has also cornered Michael Bisping and B.J. Penn for numerous UFC title fights, but he sees little to be gained speculating on what is now water under the bridge.

“You start letting other fighters, sparring partners, managers, and coaches talk to you – everybody and their mother,” Parillo said. “But you’re better at fighting than everyone that’s talking to you, yet you’re listening to them.

“But that’s always what happens when you’re on top, particularly if you’re kind to everyone around you, and you’re letting them all in the door. Is that what’s to blame for the loss? I don’t know, but we’re making that the past, and we’re going to focus on the future.”

When looking ahead, Parillo believes the Nunes victory should ultimately prove a seminal moment for both Cyborg and the sparsely populated 145-pound division.

“The positive thing I’m taking out of this fight is that people are going to finally get to see Cris Cyborg’s personality,” Parillo said. “When they’re always winning, you don’t always get to see that personality – you just take them for being winners or one of the baddest people on the planet.

“I don’t think the fans or people in the industry would ever get to see who Cris Cyborg is without her first losing a fight like this. If you saw the way Cris embraced Amanda, how humble she was about her loss, that’s Cris Cyborg.”

And, although Nunes has said her next port of call will be to defend her bantamweight strap, Parillo reckons there is a new and exciting dynamic emerging at featherweight.

“I’m hoping it opens up the division and creates more opponents,” he said. “You’ve got to remember that Cat Zingano beat Amanda, and Megan Anderson just beat Zingano. So, now there’s a little mix going on at 145 pounds, and that’s the way we’ve got to look at it.

“We’re not going to leave the UFC. We’re going to stay there, plug away and get back the title that Cris had. She has the time and ability to do it.”

There is, of course, the small matter of Cyborg’s current UFC contract expiring in March. And UFC President Dana White was coy on the possibility of an immediate rematch with Nunes in the near future.

These are matters Parillo prefers to avoid, though he is eager to get back to the business of winning fights, provided all goes well at the negotiation table.

“I get earfuls here and there about the politics side, but that’s something I’ve always been pretty good at staying away from,” Parillo said. “I’ve just got to do my job. Are they going to give her an immediate rematch? I don’t think so, but that’s OK.

“If we could get a fight between now and March, that would be wonderful, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. The negotiations are obviously the manager’s job, and I just want the best for Cris.”

For complete coverage of UFC 232, visit the UFC Events section of the site.