At least for the moment, widespread rumors that Gina Carano plans to return to MMA and challenge UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey have subsided.
That’s because the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight title challenger told MMA Fighting (h/t Yahoo Sports) that she plans on starring in a pair of movies, one in October and another in December.
In mid-October, Carano will travel to Baton Rouge to begin filming heist flick Bus 657, a film that has a $22,000,000 budget and will feature megastars Robert De Niro and Kate Bosworth.
The UFC’s brass began negotiating Carano’s return in early 2014, and by midsummer, company president Dana White said Carano would get a crack at Rousey in December if the 32-year-old actress could ink a deal before then.
But White has changed his tune in light of Carano’s announcement to devote the rest of her time in 2014 to her acting career.
During an interview this week with Damon Martin of Fox Sports, White griped about essentially coming to a standstill in his negotiations with Carano.
(Carano is) The hardest human being we’ve ever dealt with and I didn’t see it coming. I don’t know, we’ll see how these things play out. Just incredibly difficult. We’ve dealt with (Brock) Lesnar, Tito (Ortiz), Chuck (Liddell) was f—–g king of the world, Ronda Rousey, we’ve pretty much done deals with everyone on Earth and she is the hardest f—–g athlete we have ever dealt with.
White then specified his issues with Carano and her management by saying the following:
The problem is she allows herself to be handled by these Hollywood f—–g idiots. It’s absolutely crazy. We’ve had all the biggest superstars in the world. You’re talking about a girl who hasn’t fought in a while. Any time you deal with anyone in f—–g Hollywood it’s a joke. It’s literally a joke, it’s comical. You feel like you’re in a Saturday Night Live skit. This can’t be f—–g real. In dealing with her people, I don’t know if it can be done.
Dave Bautista, better known in the realm of pro wrestling by his his ring name,”Batista,” also landed a part in Bus 657.
A former World Wrestling Entertainment champ, Batista made his pro MMA debut in 2012, scoring a first-round TKO over the 300-pound Vince Lucero at CES MMA: Real Pain. Lucero entered the bout with 22 pro wins.
The retired Carano, who holds a 12-1-1 pro kickboxing record and an 8-1 pro MMA mark, last fought at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg in August 2009, where she lost via first-round KO to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino.
Rowdy, conversely, has racked up a 10-0 record since making her pro debut in March 2011. Rousey has finished seven foes with first-round armbars and another with a third-round armbar and has won by first-round KO/TKO in each of her last two bouts.
While UFC matchmakers have yet to determine her next opponent, according to the UFC on Fox, Rousey said she would like to fight on the Jan. 3 card, which includes the light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
In her last outing, Rousey mauled Alexis Davis with a 16-second KO at UFC 175 in July. For her efforts, Rousey pocketed her second straight “Performance of the Night” bonus.
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