While Ronda Rousey is credited with blowing the roof off women’s MMA and getting female fighters into the UFC, the original face of women’s MMA was Gina Carano. The muay thai kickboxer turned mixed martial artist was a huge star in the sport from 2006 to 2009 and headlined several record breaking events on national television. Her fighting career came to an end with a rough first round TKO at the hands of bruiser Cris Cyborg, so she knows a little about what it’s like to be Ronda Rousey these days.
Fight Hub TV caught up with Gina Carano cageside at a local MMA event, and she shared a positive message for the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
“I think Ronda should do whatever she wants to do, she’s only 29,” Carano said. “She’s an amazing athlete, but she needs to express herself as an artist, too, so let her do what she wants to do.”
Carano followed her heart after the Cyborg loss, and it took her out of the cage and to Hollywood where she’s starred in several films from the Steven Soderbergh project Haywire to the massively successful Deadpool movie. She heard the exact same things that Ronda did: that she was a terrible actor, that no one in Hollywood would want to hire her after the loss she took, and making it in the movies would now be impossible. It took her a while, but she’s proved those doubters wrong with a solid career and ever-growing filmography.
If Gina can do it, why not Ronda? Considering Rousey has listed Carano as someone she tries to emulate in her career, we feel like this is some advice she may actually take.