5 Things You Didn’t Know About Gina Carano’s MMA Career

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.