Coach: Gina Carano Just Needs To Get With A Good Team And Compete
This time last month, the MMA world was buzzing with rumours about a potential comeback for former Strikeforce featherweight champion Gina Carano.
The talk has died down a lot since then but it was briefly touched up upon at UFC 173’s post-fight media scrum by Dana White who said he “owed” the Hollywood actress a call.
According to the former champion’s trainer and multiple-time jiu-jitsu champion Laercio Fernandes, who spoke to MMAFighting recently, Carano is still training and evolving as a mixed martial artist:
“She’s doing great. She trains well, but she has a lot of things to do, like interviews and movies. I always tell her ‘no pressure, do what you want to do. When you feel in your heart, you’ll know if you want to fight or not’. She has a big heart.
She’s the type of person that loves martial arts,” he continued. “She respects the traditions and loves to be around. She trains because she loves it. There’s nothing set with the UFC or things like that.”
It was speculated that Carano, who fought the majority of her career at 145 pounds, was going to make her return in a title fight against current bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. The 32-year old hasn’t fought in almost five years since a 2009 loss to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino but Fernandes is confident she can still compete with the very best.
“”I believe she can compete in MMA, muay Thai or jiu-jitsu if she focuses on it.Anyone can compete at the highest level if you focus on it and do a professional work, and it’s easier with her since she has a great background and a history in this sport. She just needs to get back with a good team and compete.
She has to sit with the whole team and talk about it. I never talk to her about it. The only think I told her was ‘if you don’t want to get in the UFC, no problem, we’ll continue training.’ You never know. We never discussed this, to be honest with you.”
Carano’s fighting future is still up in the air for the moment and we will have to wait until on her next move. Do you think we will ever see the former Strikeforce champion in the cage again?
