Gina Carano‘s debut film, Haywire (which was said to be written and made for her by renowned director and MMA fan, Steven Soderbergh) had its red-carpet premiere this weekend. Access Hollywood was out seeking some.
Gina Carano‘s debut film, Haywire (which was said to be written and made for her by renowned director and MMA fan, Steven Soderbergh) had its red-carpet premiere this weekend. Access Hollywood was out seeking some good Gina Carano acting reviews from her co-stars. Such positive comments about Carano included, “She’s a proper fighter” said Ewan McGregor and “She’s maybe the second best athlete that I ever worked with” said Channing Tatum.
We are pretty proud of our beautiful Gina Carano who is again helping to bolster the MMA sport by starring in her own mainstream action film and we’re also proud because we’re 97 percent sure that she doesn’t take steroids. After the video, check out Carano’s date to the premiere. Think he could have worn a suit, eh? What a scrub.
(I bet even those scientists from the future who put me together couldn’t have predicted that old #643227 would become a future champion!)
Success is a double edged sword. On one hand, it brings fame, fortune, and an immeasurable sense of self confidence, one that can only be gained by the awareness that you are truly the best at what you do. On the other, it brings crushing, tireless scrutiny from everyone around you, including those who helped build you up in the first place. And it is when you allow those naysayers to affect your daily routine, your mental state, or, in Christiane “Cyborg” Santos‘ case, your training regimen, that you have begun the inevitable fall from grace that follows.
Ever since her introduction to the public MMA circuit, Santos was looked at as a fighter who was simply on another level than that of her female counterparts. Her strength, striking ability, and general physique was shocking to even the most devoted MMA fans, and after she handled Gina Carano to take the Strikeforce women’s featherweight title, we knew she would be there for a long, long time.
And as with any case of athletic dominance, steroid accusations were immediately lobbed at the champ. Though there was little evidence to suggest any truth to these claims, pundits and keyboard warriors alike ruthlessly pursued them nonetheless. And as it turns out, behind the rumor was a fair bit of truth.
(I bet even those scientists from the future who put me together couldn’t have predicted that old #643227 would become a future champion!)
Success is a double edged sword. On one hand, it brings fame, fortune, and an immeasurable sense of self confidence, one that can only be gained by the awareness that you are truly the best at what you do. On the other, it brings crushing, tireless scrutiny from everyone around you, including those who helped build you up in the first place. And it is when you allow those naysayers to affect your daily routine, your mental state, or, in Christiane “Cyborg” Santos‘ case, your training regimen, that you have begun the inevitable fall from grace that follows.
Ever since her introduction to the public MMA circuit, Santos was looked at as a fighter who was simply on another level than that of her female counterparts. Her strength, striking ability, and general physique was shocking to even the most devoted MMA fans, and after she handled Gina Carano to take the Strikeforce women’s featherweight title, we knew she would be there for a long, long time.
And as with any case of athletic dominance, steroid accusations were immediately lobbed at the champ. Though there was little evidence to suggest any truth to these claims, pundits and keyboard warriors alike ruthlessly pursued them nonetheless. And as it turns out, behind the rumor was a fair bit of truth.
Though the jury is still out on the legitimacy of Cyborg’s “tainted supplements” claims, her temporary absence may have provided women’s MMA with some breathing room, at least at 145 pounds. Let us not forget that this was a division that took over a year and a half to find its champion a match-up, and when it did, the fight was over in less time than it took Jimmy Lennon Jr. to introduce both parties involved.
Now that this otherworldly force has been removed from the scene, it could make for several interesting match-ups in the featherweight division. Depending on how she fairs against bantamweight champion Meisha Tate in March, Ronda Rousey could surely continue her dominant run in her original weight class. Names like Alexis Davis, who is set to take on Sarah Kaufman at 135 lbs at the same event, Amanda Nunes, and Tara Larosa have all fought at 145 before, and could easily shake things up in the featherweight division. Hell, maybe even Gina Carano could come back for a couple of marquee fights. But that pipe dream is more than likely dead, as the early reviews for Haywire have been overtly positive, and are likely the start of a new phase in “Conviction’s” career.
And it was with Carano’s departure from the sport that we saw one of the main problems facing women’s MMA, that of our need for a Xena-like champion who is as dominant as she is beautiful. Despite the fact that Cyborg displayed a supremacy unmatched by any female figure in the sport, not one website, magazine, or other publication mentioned her when discussing this whole “face of women’s MMA” nonsense. Even in a sport in which the competitors put their physical appearance on the line with every fight, we simply didn’t want to accept the fact that someone as…let’s say, homely, as Cyborg would be its representative.
But we’re not here to address issues that are best left for one of Oprah Winfrey’s self empowerment speeches, we’re here to talk shop. As Seth pointed out, Strikeforce’s collapse is as evident as ever, and being that Dana White and the UFC have all but refused to acknowledge women’s MMA as a legitimate investment, it appears that the sport in general is walking on flimsy legs. So what do you think, could Cyborg’s absence help save women’s MMA? Will the 135 pound division provide enough marquee match-ups to keep interest alive? Or are we hearing the fading S.O.S of a sinking ship? Discuss.
God damn you, ReX13. His running gag this week inspired us to revive an old, dead CagePotato feature, in which we take a moment to recognize some of your efforts in the comments section. Will we forget about this by next Friday? Maybe. Maybe not. All we have is this moment. And now, the eight greatest comments of the week…
ReX13 on “Report: Miesha Tate to Defend Strikeforce Title Against Ronda Rousey on March 3rd” [selected highlights]:
– “If you weren’t pretty, it wouldn’t matter what you said or didn’t say. That’s why you’re getting this attention.” – Miesha Tate
– “Man, Stalin was a real asshole, killing his own people like that.” – Pol Pot
– “Wow, that Bachmann chick is stuck on turbo-crazy. The only reason people are giving her the time of day is because she’s a relatively attractive woman in the Republican party. Does she hear the words that are coming out of her mouth?” – Sarah Palin
– “Goddammit, I’ve spent fifteen years in this neighborhood trying to increase property vaules, and a whole fucking passel of kettles just moved in next door. With their hippity hop music and Tyler Perry movies…..we better get a dog, honey.” – Pot
– “Bobby Flay is kinda a douche, you guys.” – Guy Fieri
– “The Duggars should stop having children. Can they even handle the children they already have?” – Nadya “Octomom” Suleman
– “That Octomom is such an attention whore.” – Kate Gosselin
– “Fuck you, bitch.” – Nadya Suleman
God damn you, ReX13. His running gag this week inspired us to revive an old, dead CagePotato feature, in which we take a moment to recognize some of your efforts in the comments section. Will we forget about this by next Friday? Maybe. Maybe not. All we have is this moment. And now, the eight greatest comments of the week…
ReX13 on “Report: Miesha Tate to Defend Strikeforce Title Against Ronda Rousey on March 3rd” [selected highlights]:
– “If you weren’t pretty, it wouldn’t matter what you said or didn’t say. That’s why you’re getting this attention.” – Miesha Tate
– “Man, Stalin was a real asshole, killing his own people like that.” – Pol Pot
– “Wow, that Bachmann chick is stuck on turbo-crazy. The only reason people are giving her the time of day is because she’s a relatively attractive woman in the Republican party. Does she hear the words that are coming out of her mouth?” – Sarah Palin
– “Goddammit, I’ve spent fifteen years in this neighborhood trying to increase property vaules, and a whole fucking passel of kettles just moved in next door. With their hippity hop music and Tyler Perry movies…..we better get a dog, honey.” – Pot
– “Bobby Flay is kinda a douche, you guys.” – Guy Fieri
– “The Duggars should stop having children. Can they even handle the children they already have?” – Nadya “Octomom” Suleman
– “That Octomom is such an attention whore.” – Kate Gosselin
– “Fuck you, bitch.” – Nadya Suleman
Old_Bald_and_Irish on “Video of the Day: Ronda Rousey Trains Like A Boss“:
Yeah…I’d drop my balls on her too.
[Ed. note: Welcome back, old friend! This site has sucked since you left and XENOPHON took over!]
Honorable mention: A Fistful of Doll Hairs on “Tito Ortiz Guests on Friday Night’s Episode of CSI: NY With an Obviously Cracked Skull“:
He would be a fool not to learn the acting trade from his wife. Timing, dialoge, hitting your mark, getting in front of the money shot…etc. She is a filth of knowledge.
[Ed. note: Obviously he means “fountain,” not “filth.” I don’t know know if that was an auto-correct fail, a Freudian slip, or intentional joke-writing, but either way it made me LOL.]
Sarah Kaufman saw the internet reports of a Miesha Tate–Ronda Rousey title at about the same time the rest of the MMA world did. She wasn’t terribly surprised, she told MMA Fighting on Thursday, but neither was she particularly pleased.
“I think it’s terrible news,” the former Strikeforce 135-pound women’s champ said, and you can probably guess why.
“I put in my time and, being the former champ and having had two fights since the only loss of my career, I’ve definitely earned the right to fight Miesha Tate and fight for the 135-pound title with Strikeforce,” Kaufman explained. “Then there’s Ronda, who’s only been fighting for a year. Granted, she has her judo experience, but she hasn’t fought anyone of a high caliber. She’s fought at 145 pounds — hasn’t even competed at 135 pounds at all — and for her to be given the opportunity to fight for the title, it’s pretty ridiculous.”
The good news, if there is any for Kaufman, is that the fight is not yet official. Though first reported by MMA Weekly on Wednesday evening, both Tate — the current 135-pound women’s champ — and the unbeaten Rousey took to their Twitters to explain that the rumored March 3 title fight wasn’t yet signed. Kaufman said she was still holding out hope that her phone might ring with a fight offer before Rousey’s does, but noted that “usually when rumors happen it’s for a reason.”
The way Kaufman sees it, if Rousey has earned herself a title shot in any division it’s the 145-pound class, where most of her professional bouts have taken place. That Rousey is angling for a shot at Tate rather than at Strikeforce 145-pound champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos can only mean one thing, Kaufman said.
“She’s scared to fight Cyborg, for sure, and understandably. Cyborg is a formidable fighter. But if you’re saying you want a title, it shouldn’t matter whether it’s at 145 [pounds] or 135 [pounds]. Now she’s backpedaling and saying, ‘Oh, I want Cyborg to come to 135.’ Or maybe she’ll do it as a catchweight. Or maybe in four or five fights. She’s pretty much just pushing the fight off, clearly running from it.”
“It’s frustrating to see,” Kaufman said. “Gina [Carano] is a prime example, but she didn’t push her own looks. Everyone else pushed her looks, and she fought. She had good fights that she looked impressive in. Miesha’s been a little bit the same. She’s definitely pushed her looks and marketed herself in that manner, but she’s also put her time in and worked her way up in the fighting game. Ronda’s just the opposite. She’s had a couple impressive wins, and really fast, and then just told people, ‘I’m pretty so I deserve it.'”
While there’s no official word on whether Rousey will get the next shot at Tate, all signs seem to be pointing in that direction, and even Kaufman seems resigned to it. She might have nearly four times as many fights as Rousey, and five years more experience in MMA, but with the fickle nature of the women’s division she knows that doesn’t guarantee her a title shot. What she’s left wondering is, what will?
“I’ve been pushing for the Miesha fight since I fought her,” said Kaufman. “That’s all I can do, is get in interviews and say what I think, which is that I deserve the fight. Maybe that’s not what they want to hear. They want to hear, ‘I’m the prettiest and you can market me and sell me to guys.’ That’s not my thing, and I won’t do that. I’ll present myself as an athlete and be feminine in my own way without being over the top.”
Sarah Kaufman saw the internet reports of a Miesha Tate–Ronda Rousey title at about the same time the rest of the MMA world did. She wasn’t terribly surprised, she told MMA Fighting on Thursday, but neither was she particularly pleased.
“I think it’s terrible news,” the former Strikeforce 135-pound women’s champ said, and you can probably guess why.
“I put in my time and, being the former champ and having had two fights since the only loss of my career, I’ve definitely earned the right to fight Miesha Tate and fight for the 135-pound title with Strikeforce,” Kaufman explained. “Then there’s Ronda, who’s only been fighting for a year. Granted, she has her judo experience, but she hasn’t fought anyone of a high caliber. She’s fought at 145 pounds — hasn’t even competed at 135 pounds at all — and for her to be given the opportunity to fight for the title, it’s pretty ridiculous.”
The good news, if there is any for Kaufman, is that the fight is not yet official. Though first reported by MMA Weekly on Wednesday evening, both Tate — the current 135-pound women’s champ — and the unbeaten Rousey took to their Twitters to explain that the rumored March 3 title fight wasn’t yet signed. Kaufman said she was still holding out hope that her phone might ring with a fight offer before Rousey’s does, but noted that “usually when rumors happen it’s for a reason.”
The way Kaufman sees it, if Rousey has earned herself a title shot in any division it’s the 145-pound class, where most of her professional bouts have taken place. That Rousey is angling for a shot at Tate rather than at Strikeforce 145-pound champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos can only mean one thing, Kaufman said.
“She’s scared to fight Cyborg, for sure, and understandably. Cyborg is a formidable fighter. But if you’re saying you want a title, it shouldn’t matter whether it’s at 145 [pounds] or 135 [pounds]. Now she’s backpedaling and saying, ‘Oh, I want Cyborg to come to 135.’ Or maybe she’ll do it as a catchweight. Or maybe in four or five fights. She’s pretty much just pushing the fight off, clearly running from it.”
“It’s frustrating to see,” Kaufman said. “Gina [Carano] is a prime example, but she didn’t push her own looks. Everyone else pushed her looks, and she fought. She had good fights that she looked impressive in. Miesha’s been a little bit the same. She’s definitely pushed her looks and marketed herself in that manner, but she’s also put her time in and worked her way up in the fighting game. Ronda’s just the opposite. She’s had a couple impressive wins, and really fast, and then just told people, ‘I’m pretty so I deserve it.'”
While there’s no official word on whether Rousey will get the next shot at Tate, all signs seem to be pointing in that direction, and even Kaufman seems resigned to it. She might have nearly four times as many fights as Rousey, and five years more experience in MMA, but with the fickle nature of the women’s division she knows that doesn’t guarantee her a title shot. What she’s left wondering is, what will?
“I’ve been pushing for the Miesha fight since I fought her,” said Kaufman. “That’s all I can do, is get in interviews and say what I think, which is that I deserve the fight. Maybe that’s not what they want to hear. They want to hear, ‘I’m the prettiest and you can market me and sell me to guys.’ That’s not my thing, and I won’t do that. I’ll present myself as an athlete and be feminine in my own way without being over the top.”
(Gina making sure her fighting career is dead with the help of an Uzi.)
Well, it’s really seeming less and less likely that Gina Carano will be coming back to compete in MMA.
In spite of the fact that she says she is undecided whether or not her professional future resides in the cage or on the big screen, Carano, who attended Friday’s UFC 141 event in Las Vegas to help promote the upcoming January 20 release of her film, “Haywire,” seems to be talking a lot in the past tense when addressing her fight career.
Gina told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani that she spent the past two-and-a-half years making the film and getting to know herself better and flip-flopped between explaining that she pulled out of her June fight with Sarah D’Alelio due to medical and personal reasons, adding that she wished that the media would just stop asking what the issue was.
Check out the video and read the most telling quotes after the jump.
(Gina making sure her fighting career is dead with the help of an Uzi.)
Well, it’s really seeming less and less likely that Gina Carano will be coming back to compete in MMA.
In spite of the fact that she says she is undecided whether or not her professional future resides in the cage or on the big screen, Carano, who attended Friday’s UFC 141 event in Las Vegas to help promote the upcoming January 20 release of her film, “Haywire,” seems to be talking a lot in the past tense when addressing her fight career.
Gina told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani that she spent the past two-and-a-half years making the film and getting to know herself better and flip-flopped between explaining that she pulled out of her June fight with Sarah D’Alelio due to medical and personal reasons, adding that she wished that the media would just stop asking what the issue was.
Check out the video and read the most telling quotes after the jump.
“I had some personal issues. I had some personal issues and I had to take care of it, and…uh…yeah,” Carano explained uncomfortably. “I know everybody’s tryin’ to get the answer. I hope that people will just let that go. It was…uh…I couldn’t fight.”
Perhaps the most telling statement Carano made during the brief Q&A came when Helwani asked the former face of EliteXC and Strikeforce if she was anxious to right the ship after incurring her first MMA loss to Cris “Cyborg” Santos nearly three years ago.
“I don’t think my ego works like that. I kind of wish it did, cos maybe if it did I would have been a better fighter,” she said. “I really feel that I’m a late bloomer in a lot of ways and I really got pushed out there fast — almost too fast.”
Notice the “could have been,” rather than “could be.” It may be a coincidence, but it seems like she’s talking a lot like a former fighter.
When asked by Helwani if she would have changed her career trajectory, “Crush” says she wouldn’t change any aspect of her life.
“This was obviously God’s plan to kinda show me what life’s about and I have gotten some of the most beautiful experiences that a person could possibly ask for, so I’m not at all complaining. I got pushed out fast and I got to pave a beautiful way,” Carano explained. “There’s a lot of great female MMA fighters out there right now and there will be more in the future and I’ve absolutely adored being one of those people that’s helped that.”
“I don’t know [if I’ll keep acting or go back to fighting]. I think that acting is something that I’d like to get to know better. Acting is definitely something you can do longterm, but I don’t really have an answer to that right now and I’m not going to force one. Because one thing I know is you can’t force anything,” she pointed out. “As much as I’d love for this movie to be a great hit, you can’t force that and as much as I’d like to be the best female MMA fighter in the world, you can’t force that. It’s gotta come from somewhere pure and It’s gotta happen, not cos you’re forcing it. I’m a big fan of not forcing myself down people’s throats.”
Carano says that there have been a number of offers for work since she’s been away from fighting and that she hasn’t had time to contemplate her next move since she’s been so consumed with promoting the film.
“We do have a lot of opportunities and a lot of things that we’re looking at. Really, I just honestly cannot wait to get on the other side of [the movie]. I really do. I want to get on the other side of January 20th and really sit down and see what Gina really wants to do,” Carano explained. “It’s been a two-year deal. It’s given me some time to spend with my family and it’s given me some time to sit and figure some things out. I’m still the same person, but with a little bit more knowledge on how to be healthy and how to love myself a little bit better. I don’t know [if I’ll fight again]. We’ll see. I really don’t have an answer. I just think after January 20th we’ll know a lot more.”
As far as Carano’s longtime dream of fighting under the UFC banner, she seemed to be talking on behalf of women’s MMA, rather than herself when she told Helwani that she is hopeful that Zuffa will one day have WMMA featured in the Octagon.
“It’s also kind of interesting because I always thought it would happen, and I’m also still holding onto a dream that women will fight in the UFC. I don’t understand why they don’t put a superfight on between two females that people really want to see fight. And there’s so many great females out there now, so yeah, it’s still a dream.”
It’s a new year, Potato Nation, and aside from an endless number of Mayan-themed jokes that will undoubtedly punctuate most of our content, we’ve decided to kick off 2012 with you, our esteemed followers, in mind. And while we had more than our fill of exciting brawls in 2011, things like injury curses, excessive title shots, and sudden desires for film careers left us with hunger pains that could only be satiated by the announcement of another marquee match-up. That, or one of your wife’s famous steak sandwiches.
Call us greedy, call us insensitive, but we’re the type of fans that simply must have our every fantasy fulfilled, and it is with that in mind that we ask you, our fellow fanatics, to join us in a discussion of the five fights we NEED to witness this year, if only to end a few of the never ending arguments that constitute the CP comments sections. Here are our picks…
Why?: Because if we have to hear how lucky Silva got one more time, we are going to round up all of our writers and perform a full reenactment of Death of a (Real Estate) Salesman. Goldstein will play Willy Loman, the elderly and dillusional salesman (Obvs.). CrushCo will play Biff, the former football star who yearns for a life as a farmhand, and Seth will play Happy, the slacking womanizer, leaving none other than myself to play Linda. What can I say, it sucks being the new guy.
(Can someone say SUPERFIGHT?!!!)
It’s a new year, Potato Nation, and aside from an endless number of Mayan-themed jokes that will undoubtedly punctuate most of our content, we’ve decided to kick off 2012 with you, our esteemed followers, in mind. And while we had more than our fill of exciting brawls in 2011, things like injury curses, excessive title shots, and sudden desires for film careers left us with hunger pains that could only be satiated by the announcement of another marquee match-up. That, or one of your wife’s famous steak sandwiches.
Call us greedy, call us insensitive, but we’re the type of fans that simply must have our every fantasy fulfilled, and it is with that in mind that we ask you, our fellow fanatics, to join us in a discussion of the five fights we NEED to witness this year, if only to end a few of the never ending arguments that constitute the CP comments sections. Here are our picks…
Why?: Because if we have to hear how lucky Silva got one more time, we are going to round up all of our writers and perform a full reenactment of Death of a (Real Estate) Salesman. Goldstein will play Willy Loman, the elderly and dillusional salesman (Obvs.). CrushCo will play Biff, the former football star who yearns for a life as a farmhand, and Seth will play Happy, the slacking womanizer, leaving none other than myself to play Linda. What can I say, it sucks being the new guy.
Why?: Depending on the outcome of Evans/Davis of course, this one needs to happen because 2011 was shockingly absent of, as Rampage would put it, “some black on black crime.” For reals though, if the rivalry between these two was great enough to create a rift in the almighty Team Jackson, then it’s definitely a fight worth seeing.
Why?: Because we need to end this whole “Face of Women’s MMA” debate. And since Ms. Carano seems reluctant to return to the cage, we’d be satisfied if this fight took place at a training facility, in the form of a dance off, or preferably, after a heated game of lingerie SCRABBLE.
Why?: Sorry Carlos, but THIS is the match that MMA fans have been clamoring for. It’s a classic battle of Good vs. Evil, Wealthy vs. Homeless, and Completely Incoherent vs. Sort of Incoherent. And now that one huge PPV draw has moved on to greener, chicken salad filled pastures, this fight would provide a much needed boost in the upcoming lineup, which is a bit stagnant, to be honest.
#1 – Anderson Silva vs. JJ, GSP, JDS…
Why?: Because we NEED an Anderson Silva supermatch. We don’t care who it’s against, we really just need to see Silva step outside of the 185 pound division to fight someone who has more than a Hail Mary’s chance in Hell of beating him. The man is the clean shaven, smirking face of domination, and it’s about time that he showed someone other than Justin Bieber that he can shuck and jive with anyone, and we mean ANYONE, placed before him. Make it happen, DW.
Give us your top five in the comments section below.
Sarah Kaufman saw the internet reports of a 
