In a dramatic yet brief return to the boxing arena, Gina Carano, the boxer-turned-actor, found herself yearning for more than just a fleeting 17-second match. Her comeback bout against Ronda Rousey on Saturday night in Inglewood, California, hardly gave her the time she had hoped for.
“I was so ready, I felt so good,” Carano, now 44, expressed during a post-fight interview inside the ring, as reported by AFP. “I wanted it to last longer. But after being away for 17 years, just stepping into the cage was a victory in itself. Facing a legend was a victory. I feel great, but I wanted to fight, and I didn’t get to do that.”
Both Carano and Rousey had been on lengthy hiatuses from the MMA scene, with Rousey absent for nearly a decade. Yet, they both returned to headline a much-anticipated event broadcast on Netflix.
The fight, however, was brief. Mere moments after the bell, Rousey executed her renowned armbar technique, compelling Carano to tap out and conclude the match. This marked Carano’s first fight since her loss to Cris Cyborg by TKO in August 2009, which had prompted her retirement.
She delivered her signature armbar move, forcing Carano — whose last fight occurred in August 2009, when she lost to Cris Cyborg by TKO and retired — to tap and signal the end of the fight.
“You changed my world and we changed the world,” Rousey told Carano during an interview in the ring following the fight, according to USA Today. “And I will never, ever forget. I will never be able to pay you back enough. But I’m so glad we got to share this moment.”
Carano shifted into acting following her retirement and launched that portion of her career with a role in “Haywire,” but she was fired from “The Mandalorian” in 2021 following controversial social media posts.