Some people may know her as the rough and tough "Crush" on American Gladiators, while others know her as the hard-hitting, ass-kicking MMA fighter Gina Carano.
Born in Texas on April 16, 1982, Gina Joy Carano was born to compete. Her father was a backup QB for the Dallas Cowboys from 1977 to 1982 and then as a starter for the USFL Pittsburgh Maulers in 1984.
Gina followed in her father's footsteps and began competing in different sports in College. She led her basketball team to the state title, and also played softball, and volleyball.
Gina began her pro career as a Muay Thai fighter racking up a 12-1-1 record. She made her EliteXC debut against Julie Kedzie on Feb. 10, 2007 by decision. She then defeated Tonya Evinger, Kaitlin Young and most recently, Kelly Kobold on other EliteXC events.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Gina Carano's good looks and talent made her a household name. She has appeared in movies and is the third most popular name on Yahoo!
While Carano was getting all the attention, another female fighter was starting to make waves in the MMA world. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos won six straight fights after losing her first professional fight.
After having won their fights at EliteXC: Heat, the undefeated Carano and the 6-1 Cyborg were arguably the top two female MMA fighters in the world. A fight between the two seemed inevitable. Unfortunately, EliteXC—the organization in which both girls were fighting—ended up bankrupt. Both girls, among others, were out.
With the downfall of EliteXC, a lot of fans were disappointed that the Cyborg/Carano fight may never take place...until now that is. UFC president, Dana White, expressed interest in hosting an eventual fight between Cyborg and Gina, probably in WEC. He even said he would be interested in signing Gina Carano to WEC. He would be "testing the waters" with her, bringing female fighters to WEC, and making them fight Gina.
She would definitely make more money with WEC then with EliteXC, so it would be surprising to see Gina refuse a contract with WEC.
It would be very interesting to see a female division in the WEC; and the anticipated fight between Gina and Cyborg may take place sooner then we think.
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about 1 month ago
Yea, Dana might put on this fight, but he's siad many imes before that he has no interest in starting a womans division. Think about it, Gina and Cyborg are the only really good female fighters right now.
Say he did make a whole division, that fight would crown the first champ. The winner would then whind up fighting the loser again because theres nobody else out there. It would just be a recurring cycle.
from about 1 month ago
There are more good female fighters than just those two. Tara LaRosa, Julia Berezikova, and many more that for some reason I can't seem to remember right now.
from about 1 month ago
Well I think thats why he wants to "test the waters" he'll see how it goes, but hey new fighters come and go in other divisions, why not in the girls division. Some other female fighters will make it big someday, it's not just all about Gina and Cyborg.
from about 1 month ago
There are also the japanese girls that no one knows about like Megumi Fujii with a record of 15 and 0, unless that changed but I dont think she has fought lately.
about 1 month ago
Very cool. Good for her and MMA. If Dana bites and this works out....I can say the UFC will have made the right move and a classy one at that. While Gina is extremely marketable (thats polite for FIIIIIIIIIIINE) womens MMA is very exciting even without her. Those ladies come to bang and rarely dissapoint. WEC is a perfect place to test them out for Zuffa, especially considering the absorption of weight classes to the UFC. This would fill out those holes quite nicely. Great stuff, hope it works.
from about 1 month ago
Totally agree, WEC is a great place for women's MMA and hopefully Dana will make this work out.
about 1 month ago
Thanks for writing the article, Jessy,
It's great that women may soon be back in big-time MMA. And Todd is sure right: Those women can sure bring it.
But I'm wondering: Doesn't the WEC have their own spokesperson to announce Gina's opportunity? Is Dana White the WEC President as well? Is Ferttita the owner? Part owner?
What, exactly, is Dana's official connection with the WEC?
from about 1 month ago
Joseph -
I think I can clarify a little. Zuffa, LLC is the parent company of both the UFC and the WEC. Zuffa, LLC is comprised of Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III (45% ownership each) and Dana White (owns the remaining 10%).
Also, When a press release is issued from the WEC it typically is not done by Dana White but is done by a VP like Peter Dropick. There is no official announcement regarding female fighters at this time though. Dana's recent thoughts/comments were his responses to direct questions from the media who brought up the issue to him directly during general Q & A sessions.
about 1 month ago
I think this has been in the works for some time. Zuffa folds the heavier divisions in WEC and moves them over to the UFC, and the cards can now comprise the lighter divisions and the female divisions, without having to take a risk putting them on the UFC main cards.
about 1 month ago
i still only can think of what she said on the Craig Freguson show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTZ4FS37VvQ
from about 1 month ago
wow-what a great interview. She certainly has a way about her!
about 1 month ago
I absolutely loved the UFC before this and now Dana White is a mid-level hero of mine!
And, I think that Mr. White is doing the right, and a great, thing by testing the waters to allow women into the UFC.
I'm under no illusions that a woman could beat a man, unless she got in a really lucky, and well place kick, but to see women getting the opportunity to mix it up in the UFC is awesome. Honestly, if I could be in my early 20's again I'd give the UFC a shot. Hell yeah! Chicks up dudes down. LOL!
Jennifer
from about 1 month ago
Speaking of women- We need more strong female voices in the MMA community. Where have you been at Jennifer?!
about 1 month ago
great job my friend..potd..5 star performance!!!
/stokey from muskogee
about 1 month ago
I love that Dana White is bringing the female fighters into the WEC. This will only help in their push for pay-per-view in 2009 and gives them a whole other division in which to build stars.
about 1 month ago
The WEC is a nice place to give the women a test run, however, like dana has said all along there aren't enough great female fighters out there to sustain a division and continue to put on quality fights.
Carano/cyborg is essentially just a free money grab ERR a trial run for women. I doubt there will be a permanent place for women under the Zuffa banner at all.
about 1 month ago
Geez...Daae owns a piece of the WEC too? When will this Dana White nightmare end?
about 1 month ago
And thank you, Derek, for clearing up the Zuffa/UFC/WEC triangle for me.
Much appreciated.
about 1 month ago
well, i would love to see gina fighting in the wec or even the ufc, and as much as i love her, i gotta say, gina nor cyborg are close to being the best female mma fighters, talented? yes, but either of then would get terribly crushed by Megumi "Mega Megu" Fujii check her out sometime
from about 1 month ago
And I thought you were going to say Rosi Sexton.
about 1 month ago
If Dana doesn't hurry Gina could end up with Strikeforce.
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