Ronda Rousey has revealed how her fight with Gina Carano came together.
The former UFC Champion confirmed her return to the Octagon for the first time since December 2016 this week. Her return fight with Carano has been announced at 145 pounds, taking place on May 16 from Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
The former WWE star spoke to ESPN MMA for an interview after the announcement, providing some details of the upcoming fight. Explaining where the idea came from, Ronda Rousey recalled watching a video of Gina Carano during her time off from combat sports. The UFC Hall of Famer who has always spoken highly of Carano, said that she wanted to uplift the fellow MMA legend:
“I was nine months pregnant and I saw a video of Gina Carano giving an interview and she didn’t look good. She gained like an unhealthy amount of weight. And my first thought was like, ‘Oh my God, what can I do? What can I do to help?’ And the reason why I had that thought was because she’s the one woman not only in MMA that doesn’t owe me a damn thing, but that I owe immensely,”
Didn\'t Exactly Work Out: Ronda Rousey
The event that is set to be streamed on Netflix is interestingly being promoted by Jake Paul\'s Most Valuable Promotions instead of UFC. During the talk, Ronda Rousey revealed that she had actually contacted Dana White but they couldn\'t reach a deal:
“I reached out to Dana and asked him if he would be interested in it. And it didn’t exactly work out with the UFC, but it led us to here today,\"
The timing of this event has also been a topic of discussion, as UFC is set to hold its White House event less than a month later on June 14, 2026.
What do you think about Ronda Rousey returning to MMA for this fight? Let us know in the comments below.
