Movie Studio Reportedly Stands In The Way Of UFC Signing Gina Carano
After Ronda Rousey destroyed Alexis Davis in the co-main event of UFC 175 on July 5, the UFC women’s bantamweight division was left painfully short on legitimate contenders for the dominant “Rowdy.”
Thankfully, there were some talented ladies still available outside the Octagon, and the UFC made waves this past weekend by signing former Legacy FC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Coupled with the fact that Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino also announced she will make her Invicta bantamweight debut at Invicta FC 10 in December on Fight Pass, this last week sparked a potentially exciting time for the division.
But there was still one high-profile female fighter that the promotion had yet to get under its wings. That woman is none other than former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Gina Carano, who famously left the sport behind for Hollywood after a brutal first round TKO loss to “Cyborg” back in 2009.
After rumor after rumor about Carano finally returning to the sport, UFC President Dana White had had enough. He said he was going to Los Angeles to “get that f—ing thing done.” However, it appears that there are some significant roadblocks to coaxing “Conviction” back into the cage.
Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter reported that Carano’s movie studio must first sign off on her making her way to the UFC, as they’re concerned a loss to bulldozing champion Rousey would hurt her status as an action hero on film:
Gina Carano to the UFC is not as much of a lock as I thought it was yesterday. Movie conflicts. Studio has to sign off.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) July 14, 2014
Studio worried that losing to Ronda will hurt Gina’s action hero allure. And yeah, it would.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) July 14, 2014
Carano’s studio has a point, as a loss to “Rowdy” would probably rip a ton of stardom away from Carano. With Rousey set to appear in big-budget films “Entourage,” “The Expendables 3,” “Fast and Furious 7,” and “Athena Project,” Carano has already been replaced as the biggest MMA star in movies.
Her acting career may not have worked out exactly as planned, and now Rousey is moving in on that as well. Beyond that, however, she’s not likely to offer the Olympic judoka much in the Octagon. She’s been out of action for nearly five years, and fought most of her career at 145 pounds.
Even if she could make the weight, she’s going to be faced with an ever-evolving titleholder in a sport she left behind light years ago. But that’s not going to stop White & Company from signing her in hopes of a lucrative pay-per-view (PPV) haul.
If the UFC can get Carano’s studio to sign off, they’ll most likely get it. But fans could be left with a sour taste in their mouths if what they think would happen actually does. Is this a fight that any serious fan of MMA actually wants to see?
