Gina Carano’s MMA return didn’t go as she might have expected, but she still received encouraging words from Jon Jones. The MMA fighter-turned-actor was making her return after 17 years, and she faced the legendary Ronda Rousey in the main event of the MVP MMA card.
While many didn’t expect Carano to put up a massive fight, given that she had been away from competition for almost two decades, the fight actually ended quicker than expected.
Carano tapped out in 17 seconds after Rousey latched in her trademark armbar. Rousey was also away from MMA for almost a decade, but she remained in shape by wrestling in WWE and had posted several training videos in the past.
Carano had also brought up that she had lost 100 pounds to get into shape for this fight, and while she did lose this fight, she posted an emotional message on Instagram thanking her team and about enjoying the ride:
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“This was one of the best rides of my life. I felt locked in fight night. No fear just focused positive adrenaline. Love to my team.”
The returning MMA star also brought up that she feared her arm would break if she didn’t tap out:
“My heart is heavy, I wanted to throw, battle, win, but I kicked when I should have moved and was down and done. If I hadn’t tapped she would’ve broken my arm, as it had begun to crackle.”
While she was disappointed with the manner of the loss, she added that it was humbling. She also revealed what Jones told her after the fight.
‘Bones’, according to Carano, praised her comeback and admired her for it:
“Jon said, ‘You haven’t fought in 17 years? Do you know how big your balls have to be to get back in there after that long? Did you set some sort of record or something? Respect!’ That’s exactly what I needed to hear from the best to ever to do it.”
Jones was present at the event and even had time on the analyst’s desk discussing his future. The former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion was called out after Francis Ngannou defeated Philipe Lins.
Check out Gina Carano’s message below:
Gina Carano reveals hardships of training before MVP fight
Gina Carano again brought up how difficult getting into shape was, adding that it felt like an “experiment” to lose the 100 pounds:
“I’ve been in a caloric deficit for a year, training felt like swimming as hard as I could upstream. I can count on two hands the number of times I felt good training. It was physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done taking the weight off while turning back into an athlete. I felt like a science experiment losing 100 pounds.”
While this was difficult for the former ‘Mandalorian’ star, she thanked the California Athletic Commission for all the tests and measures they had taken to ensure the fight took place and she was healthy.
Carano also added that this weight cut was great for her, and this helped change her lifestyle:
“I needed to go through this fight to implement permanent lifestyle changes and now I feel like this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see where I can push my body to go next.”
Carano also thanked Ronda Rousey, Netflix, and MVP, and hoped this was just the start of the promotion’s MMA fights.
She ended the statement by thanking all her supporters, too.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim