Tag: Gina Carano

Ranking the Four Most Likely “Huge Announcement” Opponents for Ronda Rousey

As many of us noted following Ronda Rousey‘s quick win over Sara McMann at UFC 170, the women’s bantamweight division is quickly running out of viable contenders. Watching Rousey dispatch any and all opposition has been thrilling these past couple of years, sure, but it has also shown fans just how far above the skill level of her competitors “Rowdy” truly is. And unlike the middleweight division during the Silva era, the women’s bantamweight division is simply too shallow to keep feeding Rousey journey(wo)men and expecting fans to pay the price of admission.

With the division housing their quote unquote “biggest star” rapidly approaching purgatory, the UFC appears to be in dire need of a change-up. That’s where Joe Rogan steps in, as he did during an interview with KROQ’s Kevin & Bean Show (audio above) last Friday, stating that a “huge announcement” regarding Rousey’s next opponent is coming our way:

I can say no more than I’ve already said. I will tell you this, and this is a KROQ exclusive, within the next probably week or so a huge announcement will come about women’s fighting and I’ll be back in [the studio] and we’ll talk some more. It’s going to be crazy. Madness. I wish I could [talk about it now], but I would betray the confidence of my friend and employer.

Knowing Rogan as well as we do (I think Seth bumped into him at an expo one time, maybe?), this can only mean that Rousey’s next opponent is one of four people. Join us after the jump as we definitively rank those opponents in order of probability.

As many of us noted following Ronda Rousey‘s quick win over Sara McMann at UFC 170, the women’s bantamweight division is quickly running out of viable contenders. Watching Rousey dispatch any and all opposition has been thrilling these past couple of years, sure, but it has also shown fans just how far above the skill level of her competitors “Rowdy” truly is. And unlike the middleweight division during the Silva era, the women’s bantamweight division is simply too shallow to keep feeding Rousey journey(wo)men and expecting fans to pay the price of admission.

With the division housing their quote unquote “biggest star” rapidly approaching purgatory, the UFC appears to be in dire need of a change-up. That’s where Joe Rogan steps in, as he did during an interview with KROQ’s Kevin & Bean Show (audio above) last Friday, stating that a “huge announcement” regarding Rousey’s next opponent is coming our way:

I can say no more than I’ve already said. I will tell you this, and this is a KROQ exclusive, within the next probably week or so a huge announcement will come about women’s fighting and I’ll be back in [the studio] and we’ll talk some more. It’s going to be crazy. Madness. I wish I could [talk about it now], but I would betray the confidence of my friend and employer.

Knowing Rogan as well as we do (I think Seth bumped into him at an expo one time, maybe?), this can only mean that Rousey’s next opponent is one of four people. Join us after the jump as we definitively rank those opponents in order of probability.

1. Cris Cyborg


(El Guapo, thy will be done.)

JUST HEAR ME OUT FOR A SECOND.

We all know how much the UFC loves themselves a grudge match, and it doesn’t get much grudgier than Rousey vs. Cyborg. These two have been feuding since their Strikeforce days, and I don’t even remember what a Strikeforce is anymore. Now that Cyborg is making the drop to 135 lbs, one could picture Dana White forgetting the past to make a penny in the future, if you know what I’m saying.

The conspiracy theorists out there will argue that this fight will never happen on account of the UFC “protecting” Rousey. Fact is, Rousey’s value has reached a point where it will likely drop with every squash match she is placed in moving forward. There’s a ceiling on this whole “Ronda Rousey *is* WMMA” thing and it’s rapidly approaching. Booking Rousey vs. Cyborg not only sheds the notion that the UFC is protecting Rousey, but injects the division/sport with a marquee matchup that is sure to go down in the history books. Simply put, the women’s division needs its Chuck vs. Tito and Rousey vs. Tate was not it.

I’m speaking in hyperbole, but you get the point. The UFC is in the money-making business, and Rousey vs. Cyborg is the most profitable option that currently exists in women’s MMA. Dana White can call Cyborg a roidhead all he wants, but we ain’t fooled. You know who else The Baldfather publicly trashed before signing? Kimbo Slice. James Toney. Let that sink in for a minute.

Cyborg seems to be clean for the time being and the UFC would be insane not to book this fight while they still can. Even if Rousey were to lose to Cyborg, the money they would make off the fight and subsequent, immediate rematch would be well worth the risk of exposing a hole in Rousey’s armor (plus, everyone loves a comeback story, right?).

And finally, if you don’t think that Dana White would sign Cyborg the day after Tito Ortiz stepped down as her manager purely out of spite, then brother, you don’t know Dana White. I know we’ve been burned in the past, but goddamn it you guys, try to believe.

2. Holly Holm

This one’s a bit of a curveball, because while the former boxing champion turned undefeated MMA fighter is the talk of the town amongst hardcores and Joe Rogan-type followers of the sport (hence why he would call the matchup “madness”), she is not exactly a hot commodity amongst casual fans/marks/outlanders, etc. There’s also the fact that Holm’s manager may be placing a higher price tag on his client than the UFC is willing to pay which makes her signing the far less likely scenario, but stop making points already, will you?

Holm is certainly an easier opponent to hype than either Alexis Davis or Cat Zingano — the latter of which is dealing with both a major injury and the death of her husband, so who knows when she’ll back — but has also yet to be tested against UFC level competition, let alone the woman who is dominating said competition. We’re not really sure if Holm could be the cause for this “huge announcement” or not, but she’s a higher probability than the next two options I’m going to list.

3. Bryan Caraway (or a male bantamweight TBD)

Miesha Tate Bryan Caraway MMA couples photos

Just because Shooto chickened out on what would have been a tremendous step forward for equality doesn’t mean that the UFC can’t take the heat. You show me someone who *wouldn’t* pay to see Rousey vs. Caraway (or any male bantamweight of comparable skill level) and I’ll show you a bold-faced liar, friends.

This fight would be the epitome of everything Alice Paul campaigned for, and anyone who says otherwise is a misogynist.

4. Gina Carano


(Pictured: Gina Carano’s last fight.)

I feel like an asshole even writing this, but there are some (wild and completely unsubstantiated) rumors going around that the UFC is trying to book Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano for their huge 4th of July weekend card, which hasn’t even been announced yet is somehow already lacking star power. And worse yet, these rumors are gaining steam.

You see, despite the fact that Gina Carano hasn’t fought in some five years and couldn’t make 135 even when she did, there’s been talks of her working with Mike Dolce or Dr. Phil or whatever, fuck you.

This is not going to happen. In fact, I will go as far as to say that if this turns out to be the case, I will decrease my daily CagePotato output by 33%. TRY ME, DANA.

Before I forget.

Alternate Scenario Worth Considering: Joe Rogan is Drinking the Dana White Kool-Aid

Remember all that noise Rogan was talking about Pat Cummins to hype up UFC 170? The Internet remembers. It seems more and more often these days that when the UFC is at a loss for words in regards to one of their subpar matchups, they send UFC Hypster Joe Rogan in to say some shit that not even Comedian/Podcaster Joe Rogan would agree with.

Maybe it’s nothing, is what I’m getting at. Maybe MMA is nothing. Maybe we’re all just counting down our days on this tiny, spinning pebble and deluding ourselves into believing it’s something more. Life. Death. Gainsbourg. It’s all for naught.

It’s pretty much the most nihilistic way of looking at a piece of non-news, but a necessary perspective nonetheless.

So what do you think, Nation? Is Rousey vs. Cyborg surely on the horizon? Or are we just jerking off? 

–J. Jones

Ronda Rousey Rumored to Fight Gina Carano or Cris Cyborg in July

The first ever women’s MMA superfight could be on the horizon, pitting UFC champ Ronda Rousey against either Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino or Gina Carano.
During an appearance on KROQ’s Kevin & Bean Show on Friday (h/t MMAFight…

The first ever women’s MMA superfight could be on the horizon, pitting UFC champ Ronda Rousey against either Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino or Gina Carano.

During an appearance on KROQ’s Kevin & Bean Show on Friday (h/t MMAFighting.com), UFC commentator Joe Rogan teased at a “huge announcement” coming from the UFC, possibly within the next week, regarding Rousey’s next opponent.

“Within the next probably week or so a huge announcement will come about women’s fighting and I’ll be back in [the studio] and we’ll talk some more,” Rogan said. “It’s going to be crazy. Madness. I wish I could [talk about it now], but I would betray the confidence of my friend and employer.”

UFC President Dana White recently told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole that Rousey was the “biggest star in UFC history.”

Unfortunately, pay-per-view numbers aren’t generated by compliments. Rousey’s headliner against fellow Olympian Sara McMann a little more than a week ago at UFC 170 didn’t live up to White’s forecast in buys at the pre-fight media scrum. This was especially disappointing considering McMann was penned as Rousey’s biggest fight left in the women’s bantamweight division.

It also didn’t help that it took Rousey only 66 seconds to dispatch of McMann and record her third straight UFC title defense.

An appetite for marquee fights seems insatiable at this point, considering the glaring gap in skill between Rousey and the rest of the bantamweight division. Fortunately for fans, hope could lie in Rogan’s teaser of a major announcement forthcoming from the UFC.

MMA journalist Dave Meltzer echoed Rogan’s comments in the Wrestling Observer (h/t BloodyElbow.com), and he named Carano and Cyborg, two of MMA’s biggest stars, as the two potential opponents:

Rousey has two potential opponents, both of which would draw huge for different reasons. The first is Gina Carano. Carano hasn’t fought in four-and-a-half years. There would be hell to pay in criticism for UFC if they were to make that fight, if Carano would even have interest in it.

But it would draw far more, perhaps nearly double, of what anyone else available would do, and would easily be the biggest woman’s combat sports fight of modern times. There’s also a chance it would be a first round armbar and all the criticism coming in would be the same going out. But this is the kind of thinking out of the box that put UFC on the PPV map in 2006.

The other is Cris Cyborg Justino which is a whole different round of criticism.

Alexis Davis and Cat Zingano are the only in-house names the UFC could turn to as potential opponents for Rousey. Everyone else is either coming off a loss or not established enough to warrant the spotlight treatment.

While Davis and Zingano are certainly bona fide contenders on paper, it would be a tough to convince fans to drop another $55 on either woman headlining against Rousey.

Perhaps the most intriguing fight in all of MMA is Rousey vs. Cyborg. When talking about the top pound-for-pound women on the planet, there’s no debating the top two spots. The UFC would have a surefire blockbuster on its hands if they can finally piece together the long-awaited superfight.

On the flip side, Rousey’s next opponent could come in the form of a familiar face that no one ever expected. Carano, who is the original “face of women’s MMA,” stepped away from the sport four-and-a-half years ago to pursue her acting career after losing to Cyborg in the inaugural Strikeforce featherweight title bout.

Despite her decision to leave MMA, Carano has always left the door open for a possible return. It would make sense for her to jump back into the fray, if given an opportunity to fight in the UFC for a world title.

According to USA Today, Rousey told reporters at UFC 170 that late summer “seems like a cool time” to fight, but she would also be open to fighting sooner than that. It’s no secret that the UFC loves its big Fourth of July weekend fight cards. 

The past and present could soon unite in the form of Rousey vs. Carano, which would undoubtedly be the biggest fight in the history of women’s MMA.

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UFC 170 Results: Here’s Why the Controversy Around Ronda Rousey’s Win Is Great


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Ronda Rousey kneed Sara McMann into oblivion in a minute…or at least Herb Dean thought McMann had been kneed into oblivion. MMA fans were split about that part. Some thought the stoppage was deserved—McMann stopped intelligently defending herself when she crumpled to the mat clutching her sides. Others disagreed, citing the fact that McMann managed to rise to her feet immediately after Dean called off the bout (an intrepid Wikipedia vandal belonged to this school of thought).

The irritating ruckus that follows any disputed stoppage polluted Twitter and message boards before Rousey’s hand was even raised. MMA fans were (and still are) pissed.

And that’s fantastic.


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Ronda Rousey kneed Sara McMann into oblivion in a minute…or at least Herb Dean thought McMann had been kneed into oblivion. MMA fans were split about that part. Some thought the stoppage was deserved—McMann stopped intelligently defending herself when she crumpled to the mat clutching her sides. Others disagreed, citing the fact that McMann managed to rise to her feet immediately after Dean called off the bout (an intrepid Wikipedia vandal belonged to this school of thought).

The irritating ruckus that follows any disputed stoppage polluted Twitter and message boards before Rousey’s hand was even raised. MMA fans were (and still are) pissed.

And that’s fantastic.

The UFC women’s bantamweight division is essentially a feeder system for Ronda Rousey, as well as a promotional vehicle for the conventionally attractive (they’ll never let you forget that) Judo star. Dana White admitted that he only allowed women in the UFC because of her. The rest of the division has no chance at taking the belt from her—did you see Alexis Davis vs. Jessica Eye? Those women are two of the best in the weight class yet they’re both still miles astronomical units away from Rousey.

This formula of sacrificing over-matched fighters to the UFC’s sacred cash cow has worked. Ridiculous Dana White assertions aside, Rousey is one of the UFC’s only stars in a roster so bloated and bland that Lorenzo Fertitta himself probably couldn’t name half the fighters. Rousey is legitimately a super-awesome bad-ass who wrecks people and, to borrow Tomas Rios’ parlance, a Bro Queen. She’s tailor made for the MMA fan, from her unique Judo stylings down to the one-of-a-kind face she sports when walking to the cage. But as great as she is, the conveyor belt of challengers who pose no challenge will get boring.

After a while, fans will realize that the Woman to Beat Rousey™ conveniently always happens to be whoever she’s fighting next, and always gets destroyed anyway despite the hype of being Ronda’s “most dangerous opponent to date.”  One day fans will get sick of Rousey crushing fighters that aren’t on her level in any aspect of MMA or even athleticism.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino seems the likely solution for this problem. She’s the only fighter scarier than Rousey. She’s so tough she made Gina Carano—then WMMA’s biggest star—retire after five minutes in the cage with her.

Too bad Dana White has zero interest in booking that fight, at least in the immediate future. Either he’s posturing, trying to downplay Justino’s value for the sake of negotiations, or he’s afraid that the female version of PRIDE-era Wanderlei Silva will slaughter his prized cash cow, Rousey. It seems White is content to not book what would be the biggest fight in WMMA history so Cyborg can continue to torture lesser fighters outside the UFC and Rousey can continue to torture lesser fighters inside the UFC.

Well what about famed boxer Holly Holm? She’s an impressive 6-0 in MMA and Rousey even expressed interest in fighting her. Too bad White doesn’t seem interested in that match either. This December he called Holm’s manager a “lunatic” and questioned the strength of Holm’s competition, insinuating she wasn’t UFC caliber (despite that term being obscenely meaningless in 2014).

The UFC doesn’t want to book the two biggest fights for Rousey. What’s left for her, then? Crushing the same cadre of women ad nauseam until she leaves for Hollywood or baby-making?

That’s why a controversial stoppage in Rousey vs. McMann was the best thing that could’ve happened. Many fans contested Herb Dean’s choice to stop the fight. The UFC can do the whole “Did Rousey REALLY beat McMann?” angle this time, and people will respond positively to it because it’s not a manufactured “OMG OLYMPIANS” gimmick. It’s appealing to the real emotions present. People felt the stoppage was BS, they want to see McMann fight Rousey again because she was doing well until Rousey’s knee smashed her liver.

The stoppage gave the UFC women’s bantamweight division a storyline—something to potentially look forward to other than clinch-throw-armbar-tap. And what if McMann gets a rematch and wins? Then WMMA will no-doubt have its first great trilogy when Rousey and McMann fight a third time. With Rousey’s star power it’ll be huge.

So let’s be thankful for Herb Dean’s questionable call, without it we’d have yawned and asked “who’s Rousey beating next?”

Superfight Alert: Cris Cyborg Planning to Drop to 135 Pounds, Wants to “Retire” Rousey

(via AXS TV Fights)

After ages of posturing and Tito Ortiz-inspired idiocy, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino has finally decided to drop to 135 pounds, with the goal of retiring UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey like she did to Strikeforce star Gina Carano in 2009.

Justino made the announcement on Inside MMA this past Friday. Here is her statement in full:


(via AXS TV Fights)

After ages of posturing and Tito Ortiz-inspired idiocy, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino has finally decided to drop to 135 pounds, with the goal of retiring UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey like she did to Strikeforce star Gina Carano in 2009.

Justino made the announcement on Inside MMA this past Friday. Here is her statement in full:

“In reference to Ronda’s statement that I am looking for a payday so that I can retire, you’re right, I am looking for a payday to retire you like I did Gina Carano. But to show it’s not only about money, I challenge you to a fight – winner takes all. Or better yet let’s fight for FREE. ANYTIME! ANYWHERE! Ask your daddy Dana to make it happen.

My English is not that great, so sorry if I was misunderstood. I didn’t literally mean I would die if I made 135. What I meant was that my doctor recommended that I did not fight the rest of my career at 135, which is what the UFC wanted.

You have fought 154 in the Olympics and 145 in MMA. You can meet me at 140 easier than for me to go down to 135. The only reason you want the fight at 135 is because you feel that is your only chance because you hope the weight cut will affect me. You guys say I’m irrelevant, yet watch my highlights. The true MMA fans not only know me, but know I’m the best. Sad that you give the true MMA fans no recognition by saying that they don’t matter.

I’m currently training to fight at 145 on March 28 and in early May. My team has hired a medical doctor to help me make 135. I plan to challenge and win the Invicta 135 Championship in the summer and challenge you, champion to champion, for your 135 belt in December.

Now I know critics will say “I thought you said you would die if you made 135.” All I’m promising is that I will give 100 percent to try to get to 135 to make this plan happen. If I do, I will still listen to my doctor’s advice and fight no more than three times at 135: first to win the Invicta belt, the second time to kick your ass and the third time to kick your ass again so that the world can see it wasn’t luck. You can even have me tested every week up to the fight. That way you will not have an excuse after I kick your ass.”

Hard words from a hard woman. One would imagine that Justino’s drop to 135 would inevitably result in the oft-speculated about match with Ronda Rousey. Justino herself certainly seems to think so. And even though she’s still under contract with Invicta FC, her manager doesn’t think that’ll be an issue if the UFC wants to put the biggest women’s fight of all time together.

So, Potato Nation, if Cyborg and Rousey do lock horns, who wins?

Gina Carano Channels Mel Gibson circa 1996 in Trailer for “In the Blood”

On Wednesday, we passed along the incredibly generic poster for Gina Carano‘s latest action flick, In the Blood, which in itself is an incredibly generic, almost meaningless series of words. Seriously, unless Carano’s character swims in her husband’s blood and/or reveals that he is actually her brother (TWIST!) in this film, In the Blood is the kind of vacant, faux-badass phrase that makes absolutely zero sense and seems destined for an Affliction shirt in the near future.

In any case, a trailer for In the Blood hit the Interwebz earlier today. In it, you will find Carano going all “Give me back my son husband!” across Fiji maybe (?) after a ziplining escapade gone awry unearths a conspiracy that goes ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP, I TELLS YA! While the trailer makes sure to include plenty of ‘splosions, Superman punches*, and the guitar riff you always hear at UFC weigh-ins, it is surprisingly absent of Danny Trejo, which makes me wonder if he even beheads a guy with a machete before having a threesome with the jabroni’s wife and daughter in this film. (*sighs*)

In the Blood hits select theaters, iTunes, and On Demand April 4th.

*Which brings us to our next CagePotato Ban: Superman punches in movies featuring MMA fighters. Has there ever been a movie tentatively connected to MMA that *didn’t* include this move? We get it, the Superman punch has a cool name and looks cool to boot. It’s also a technique that only an absolute dipshit would attempt in a street fight. 

–J. Jones

On Wednesday, we passed along the incredibly generic poster for Gina Carano‘s latest action flick, In the Blood, which in itself is an incredibly generic, almost meaningless series of words. Seriously, unless Carano’s character swims in her husband’s blood and/or reveals that he is actually her brother (TWIST!) in this film, In the Blood is the kind of vacant, faux-badass phrase that makes absolutely zero sense and seems destined for an Affliction shirt in the near future.

In any case, a trailer for In the Blood hit the Interwebz earlier today. In it, you will find Carano going all “Give me back my son husband!” across Fiji maybe (?) after a ziplining escapade gone awry unearths a conspiracy that goes ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP, I TELLS YA! While the trailer makes sure to include plenty of ‘splosions, Superman punches*, and the guitar riff you always hear at UFC weigh-ins, it is surprisingly absent of Danny Trejo, which makes me wonder if he even beheads a guy with a machete before having a threesome with the jabroni’s wife and daughter in this film. (*sighs*)

In the Blood hits select theaters, iTunes, and On Demand April 4th.

*Which brings us to our next CagePotato Ban: Superman punches in movies featuring MMA fighters. Has there ever been a movie tentatively connected to MMA that *didn’t* include this move? We get it, the Superman punch has a cool name and looks cool to boot. It’s also a technique that only an absolute dipshit would attempt in a street fight. 

–J. Jones

Former Women’s MMA Superstar Gina Carano to Star in Action Flick ‘In the Blood’

Former EliteXC and Strikeforce superstar Gina Carano continues her surging film career this spring when she stars in the action flick In the Blood.  

“Gina Carano stars as Ava, a trained fighter with a dark past. When her new husba…

Former EliteXC and Strikeforce superstar Gina Carano continues her surging film career this spring when she stars in the action flick In the Blood.  

“Gina Carano stars as Ava, a trained fighter with a dark past. When her new husband (Cam Gigandet) vanishes during their Caribbean honeymoon, Ava uncovers a violent underworld of conspiracy in the middle of an island paradise,” Anchor Bay Films said in a press release sent to Bleacher Report. “Armed with a deadly set of skills, Ava sets out to discover the truth – and to take down the men she thinks are responsible for his abduction, one by one.”

The release also states that the movie will hit theaters on April 4 in a joint effort with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. 

Carano, who compiled a 7-1 record inside the cage between June 2006 and August 2009, starred in her first film—Blood and Bone—a direct-to-DVD September 2009 release about a group of fighters competing on the Los Angeles underground scene. 

In her handful of feature films, Carano‘s biggest role to date was as Riley Hicks in 2013’s Fast and Furious 6. 

Recognized as one of the pioneers of women’s MMA, the 31-year-old fought in the first televised MMA bout to feature two females on Showtime, when she squared off with now fellow retired competitor Julie Kedzie. 

Carano won the February 2007 encounter via unanimous decision, with both woman being credited with “Fight of the Night” honors. 

Despite not walking out to the cage in over four years, Carano was still one of the top 10 most searched athletes in the world in 2013, according to Yahoo!’s Year in Review.  

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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