5 Things You Didn’t Know About Gina Carano’s MMA Career
The Mandalorian star was one of the most groundbreaking fighters In MMA history.
These days, Gina Carano is best known for her career in television and film.
The 37-year-old native of Dallas, Texas, has starred in flicks like Haywire, Fast & Furious 6, and Deadpool. More recently, she played the role of Cara Dune on the hit Star Wars series, The Mandalorian.
However, prior to her big-screen debut, Gina Carano was a professional mixed martial artist. Sure, there are plenty of folks that are vaguely aware of her previous occupation. However, she last competed roughly a decade ago, and there is now a whole new generation of fans who know next to nothing about one of the most important careers in the history of women's mixed martial arts.
While Ronda Rousey is the person who is credited with bringing women's MMA to mainstream audiences, it was Carano who was originally dubbed the 'face of women's MMA'.
To truly understand the impact the Hollywood star had on the sport, who she was as a fighter, and human being, we are going to take look at five moments many fans either don't know about or may have forgotten.
5. She Verbally Agreed To Fight Ronda Rousey
By 2014, Ronda Rousey had established herself as one of the brightest stars in mixed martial arts. The problem was, the UFC didn't have any big-named opponents for the then-undefeated champion. The UFC needed another headliner to help maximize Rousey's already impressive drawing power.
It was during this time that UFC president Dana White contacted the former 'face of women's MMA,' Gina 'Conviction' Carano, to set up a potential super fight. At that point, Carano hadn't fought in five years but was still the second-biggest name in women's MMA, behind only Rousey.
As the story goes, 'Conviction' verbally agreed to the bout but asked White to give her some time (six months) to find a team and get reacclimated to life as a professional fighter. She also asked the UFC President to keep their conversation on the down-low, while she prepared.
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, The Mandalorian star claimed White told the press about the potential dream fight soon after the initial conversation. She then went on to explain:
"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 b*tch 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."
White would later apologize, but the fight still never materialized.