Gina Carano’s Return to MMA

Gina Carano is making a comeback.

The trailblazing MMA fighter has agreed to face Ronda Rousey on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

This will be her first professional fight since 2009, and if the buzz generated by Tuesday’s announcement is any indication, the event, which will be live-streamed on Netflix, promises to attract a lot of attention.

Before Carano and Rousey step into the ring under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, here are five essential facts about Carano as fans gear up for the match.

1.) Carano’s Iconic MMA Career

Carano’s professional debut took place on June 10, 2006, against Leticia Pestova in a World Extreme Fighting match.

She won by knockout in just 38 seconds, and then went on to achieve six more consecutive victories in Strikeforce and EliteXC until October 2008.

In August 2009, Carano faced what would be her toughest challenge, headlining a match against Cris Cyborg.

Ultimately, she lost that fight by TKO and subsequently called it quits.

2.) Smooth Transition from Fighting to Acting

Shortly after ending her MMA career, Carano began her acting journey.

Her breakout role came in 2011 with the action film “Haywire,” where she portrayed the tough agent Mallory Kane, earning acclaim for her performance.

She continued her acting career with roles in movies like Fast & Furious 6 and Deadpool, before landing a part in the hit TV series The Mandalorian in 2019.

3.) Termination from Lucasfilm

In 2021, following the success of The Mandalorian, Carano was let go from Lucasfilm after a controversial tweet.

In this tweet, she drew a comparison between how Republicans are perceived in American politics and the historical suffering of Jews during the Holocaust.

This wasn’t her only controversial moment; she also faced backlash for mocking mask-wearing guidelines during the pandemic.

At the time of her dismissal, Lucasfilm referred to her posts as “abhorrent and unacceptable.”

Carano later initiated legal action against Disney and Lucasfilm, but the parties reached a settlement last year.

4.) Continued Film Work Post-Lucasfilm

Despite the controversies surrounding Lucasfilm, Carano kept working in the film industry.

She appeared in two movies in 2022, Terror on the Prairie and My Son Hunter.

5.) Athletic Background

Carano isn’t the only athlete in her family.

Her father, Glenn, was a quarterback in the NFL, playing for the Cowboys from the late 1970s to 1983 and participating in 36 games. He was selected by Dallas in the second round of the 1977 NFL Draft.