Outside Source
Ronda Rousey will return to MMA for the first time since 2016. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
A surprise matchup between two mixed martial arts legends will go down in a few months — but it won’t happen at the White House.
Most Valuable Promotions announced on Tuesday that former UFC champion Ronda Rousey and women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano will square off in a five-round, featherweight bout at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on May 16. The fight will air on Netflix, making it the first MMA bout to be broadcast on the streaming platform. More fights are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Rousey, who is now 39 years old, was one-half of the first woman’s bout under the UFC banner and quickly emerged as one of the promotion’s biggest stars during her peak. The Olympic judo bronze medalist won her first 12 professional bouts — capturing titles in the UFC and Strikeforce along the way — before exiting the sport on the heels of back-to-back knockout losses against Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes — the last of which occurred in December 2016. In recent months, “Rowdy” has fueled speculation that a comeback is imminent with a series of training videos on social media, including one post that where she stated that she was ”finding my love” for MMA again.
Since stepping away from the UFC in 2016, Rousey had a prominent role in the WWE over two separate stints. Not long ago, Rousey shut down the possibility of making a return to the UFC at the White House event slated for June 14. Rousey was reportedly in talks for a boxing match against Katie Taylor in Las Vegas this summer, but that booking did not come to fruition.
“Been waiting so long to announce this: Me and Gina Carano are gonna throw down in the biggest super fight in women’s combat sport history,” Rousey said in a release. “And we’re partnering with the fighter-first promotion MVP as well as the biggest and baddest streamer on the planet Netflix. This is for all MMA fans past, present and future. More to come… much more.”
Carano, 43, hasn’t fought since August 2009, when she suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Cris Cyborg in a fight for the vacant Strikeforce featherweight championship. Since then, she has enjoyed a successful Hollywood career with roles in shows such as “The Mandalorian” and movies such as “Deadpool,” “Haywire,” and “Fast and the Furious 6.” Like Rousey, Carano never officially announced her retirement from fighting. Carano has been training regularly in Las Vegas at Syndicate MMA, and coach John Wood admitted that his charge had that “fire lit.”
Carano is recognized as one of the early pioneers of women’s MMA. Prior to facing “Cyborg,” she was victorious in her first seven professional outings, besting the likes of Julie Kedzie, Tonya Evinger and Kaitlin Young along the way. The bout vs. Kedzie at Elite XC “Destiny,” was the first women’s fight to be televised on Showtime. Carano’s crossover appeal also brought many more eyes to women’s MMA in general.
“Ronda came to me and said there is only one person she would make a comeback for and it has been her dream to make this fight happen between us,” Carano said. “She thanked me for opening up doors for her in her career and was respectful in asking for this fight to happen. This is an honor. I believe I will walk out of this fight with the win and I anticipate it will not come easy, which I welcome. This is as much for Ronda and me as it is for the fans and mixed martial arts community. What a time to be alive.”
More Than 10 Years in the Making
Carano and Rousey were briefly linked for a fight in the UFC in 2014, but the bout never truly came close to becoming a reality. Instead, the organization led by YouTube personality turned boxer Jake Paul will make its first foray into MMA with a high-profile booking. MVP is already well known for putting female boxers in prominent positions on its cards, and now it will do the same with two of the biggest stars in womens’ MMA.
“MVP has always been driven by disruption and delivering the biggest moments in combat sports on a global scale, and today we are officially bringing that energy to MMA for the first time,” MVP co-founders Paul and Nakisa Bidarian said in a statement. “Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano are the two most formative figures in the history of women’s MMA; they are the icons who shattered the glass ceiling and helped build the foundation this sport stands on. MVP’s conviction in women’s boxing was driven by the success achieved by Ronda Rousey, who was the biggest star of the entire sport of MMA during her career.
“Following the unprecedented success of our boxing partnership, we are proving that MVP and Netflix can create blockbuster live events in multiple sports that engage fans across generations. This is what we do.”
A press conference to promote the fight is scheduled for March 5 at the Intuit Dome.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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