Ronda Rousey Reveals Dana White Opted Not to Move Forward With Gina Carano Superfight

Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano (via Netflix)

While the announcement of a superfight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano has generated massive buzz, many fans were left disappointed that the clash will not take place inside the UFC’s Octagon. However, it appears the opportunity may have been presented to Dana White on a golden platter. For the unversed, the first-ever UFC women’s bantamweight champion is set to return after nearly a decade on May 16 at the Intuit Dome under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions banner. 

The event will mark the promotion’s debut venture into MMA and will be broadcast live on Netflix. Carano and Rousey have been in discussions about fighting since 2014, with talks reigniting toward the end of last year. Still, the MMA world was left questioning why Rousey chose not to return to the company that made her a star, and it now seems we may have an answer.

Ronda Rousey Opens Up on Why Only Gina Carano Could Draw Her Back to MMA

While Rousey was pregnant with her first child, Carano was navigating a controversial departure from The Mandalorian, where she had played a prominent role. By the time ‘Rowdy’ was expecting her second child, she came across an interview in which she felt Carano didn’t look her best.

The two were not in contact at the time, but the 39-year-old said she came to believe that both of them ‘needed’ the opportunity to step back into the cage. Rousey subsequently approached Dana White about making the fight happen, though it appears the promotion ultimately passed on the idea.

“I always said that Gina is the one person I’d come back to fight for,” Rousey said during an interview with ESPN. 

She added, “I thought, ‘She needs this. She needs this fight.’ The more that I thought about it, I thought, ‘I need this. I need this fight.’ I reached out to Dana and asked him if he would be interested in it, and it didn’t exactly work out with the UFC. But it led us to here today.”

 

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It remains unclear why the UFC chose not to get involved in promoting what could become one of the most-watched fights of the year. However, White has long expressed reluctance about booking matchups featuring fighters well past their competitive prime, with past situations involving Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes often cited as cautionary examples.

Last October, White also addressed Ronda Rousey returning to training and rediscovering her passion for MMA after stepping away from the sport in 2016 following back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. 

The UFC CEO had said, “I think she’s just training again. She just had three babies, and she’s in a whole other place in her life. But I will say this, she just had another baby, and she’s in great shape right now. She’s freaking ripped like she used to be. I don’t know.”

Ultimately, Rousey decided she wanted to compete again, but she maintained that the only matchup that made sense for her return was against Gina Carano, a fight the UFC had previously explored as far back as 2014.

 

Rousey explained that Carano was the driving force behind the comeback, which is now being promoted by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

She revealed, “I was nine months pregnant, and I saw a video of Gina Carano giving an interview, and she didn’t look good. She gained an unhealthy amount of weight, and my first thought was ‘oh my god, what can I do to help?’ The reason why I had that thought was because she’s the one woman, not only in MMA, that doesn’t owe me a damn thing but that I owe immensely. I’m always trying to look out what I could do for her.”

The former 135lbs champion added, “When I was in a similar spot and depressed and gave up on the world and invertly gave up on myself, what I needed was a goal and something to reignite my passion again. I always said that Gina’s the one person that I would come back to fight for. I thought you know what, she needs this. She needs this fight. The more I thought about it, I was like, I need this. I really need this fight.”

Now, the two MMA icons are set to collide at the Intuit Dome in California, with Netflix broadcasting the event live to its global audience of more than 290 million subscribers. As she prepares to compete for the first time in nearly a decade, Rousey appeared unfazed by the long layoff or the prospect of absorbing strikes again after so much time away from competition.

Rousey has previously acknowledged that her UFC career largely came to a close after dealing with repeated concussions and lingering neurological issues. While she did not directly address those concerns this time, she expressed confidence that the pressure surrounding her comeback is well within her ability to manage. 

Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey UFC 193
UFC 193 press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz September 16, 2015: UFC president Dana White speaks at a press conference with Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm ahead of UFC 193 to be held at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on the November 15, 2015. UFC 193 will headline with a fight with female fighters and is set to have the largest live audience in the s history with an estimated attendance of 70,000. Melbourne Australia EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xx ZUMA-20150916_zaf_c04_020.jpg SydneyxLowx csmphototwo152166

She also pointed to her experience competing at two Olympic Games, where she earned a bronze medal as evidence that she is no stranger to performing under intense scrutiny and the weight of expectation. 

Notably, Rousey and Carano will be 39 and 43 years old, respectively, when they meet, adding another layer of intrigue as the combat sports world waits to see whether the event ultimately proves to be a resounding success.