Long before Amanda Nunes, Rose Namajunas and even Ronda Rousey, there was one star in women’s MMA.
With respect to Cris Cyborg, Gina Carano was the first true crossover star of female MMA stemming from a three-year, 8-fight run which parlayed into a film career which saw her appear in movies such as ‘Deadpool, ‘Fast & Furious 6’ and the Steven Soderbergh-directed ‘Haywire’.
Carano stepped away from mixed martial arts following a 2009 defeat to Cris Cyborg under the Elite XC banner but serious interest has remained in the 37-year-old and speaking on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show in ESPN, she outlined how she was close to signing a deal to face Ronda Rousey in 2014 before pulling out of the agreement after what she saw as pressure from UFC president Dana White.
“When Ronda Rousey became popular, I remember they finally called for a meeting and I walked into this restaurant and [Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White] looked like two big muscly guys at the table in the middle of Hollywood and I remember thinking, ‘What took you guys so long?’” Carano said via MMA Fighting.
“So they were like, ‘Okay, we’d love to offer you a million dollars to have that fight (against Ronda Rousey).’ And I was like, ‘Well that sounds great, [but] I am going to need you to do me a favor then because I have been acting now and I’m not active in any gym, so you’re going to have to give me some time to build a team, to join a team.’ Which is not an easy thing as all fighters know.
“So I told them they would have to be able to sit on it for six months, Dana, you can’t say anything and let me get situated with that in mind because that sounds great and I’d love to do it. It was a nice dinner and we all left positive and I left stoked. It made sense. This is my moment to come and be back in there.”
In 2014 Rousey was at the absolute height of her powers. In that calendar year she fought twice, defeating Sara McMann and Alexis Davis in a combined time of just over two minutes. As big as her star had become, the UFC didn’t quite have a foil for her to make the most of her box office potential — something Carano would have likely helped with.
However, Carano soon soured on the deal.
“And then the next day, Dana was out there talking about me and talking about my name and telling people that he was going to sign me and I don’t even have a team yet,” she said. “And I was like, that is not what we discussed. You were supposed to give me at least six months to find a team. Then he started trying to put on the pressure through the media. It was a bummer because I told him over a text message that it was not what we had talked about. I need time, and now I am going to walk into a gym and people know that’s what I’m doing and I needed to build trust and find people.
“So, then he kept on doing that and kept on doing that and I’m still searching for a team and feeling all that pressure. Then he sent me a text message that said, ‘This bitch is effin’ us around,’ or something like that.
“So I sent a text message back and said, ‘I think that you sent that to the wrong person’ and he said, ‘I don’t think I did’ and that was the last conversation that we ever had over text message because I don’t think that was the kind of environment that I wanted to come back into. So I just cut all communication after that text.”
Tell her McGregor Productions has the perfect role for her!
Or if she wants,
McGregor Promotions 🦁— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 23, 2019
It is now ten years since she last competed in mixed martial arts but her age (37) isn’t necessarily a prohibitive number for a potential comeback and she says she considered it often before ultimately deciding that acting, not fighting, will define her future. Nonetheless, she remains proud of her role in popularising the growth of women’s MMA.
“So it was a dream that didn’t get to happen. But, I was able to open up doors for women to be able to walk into gyms and it could be easier. And I will always cherish that.”
