It’s rare to see a high-profile American mixed martial arts event without the UFC on the march, but this time on Saturday, the MMA MVP is dipping a toe into the game. The issue has long been headlined “What if?” matchup between female MMA pioneers Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey.
Carano, 44, was a star in Strikeforce and Elite XC in the mid to late 2000s. After winning his first seven professional fights, Carano faced Cris Cyborg in a superfight in 2009, where he lost by first round TKO.
Carano hasn’t fought since that 2009 loss, accepting Hollywood roles before her ascension as an actress has led to controversial social media comments equating disagreements over political views with the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. Controversy led to Carano losing his role in the Star Wars show “The Mandalorian” and being forced into roles in low-budget films such as “Terror on the Prairie” and “Son of the Hunter.”
In many ways, Carano wrote the blueprint for Rousey’s MMA career, although Rousey had a high-level competitive sports career before entering the tournament. Rousey was a trained judo player, taking bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Rousey was an immediate force in MMA, with the first six punches of her career coming in the first round, five ending within one minute. Four of those fights took place in the Strikeforce cage before Rousey signed her UFC contract, with UFC CEO Dana White acknowledging that they had changed from longtime opposition to women fighting in the promotion entirely because of Rousey, who had already gained significant mainstream attention.
Rousey has an astounding six UFC wins, with only Miesha Tate taking her past the first round and another three fights ending in less than a minute.
In 2015, Rousey suffered a nasty upset when she was noticeably overwhelmed by Holly Holm before Holm ended the fight with a head kick. A 48-second TKO loss to Amanda Nunes came the following year, and Rousey retired from the competition.
Like Carano, Rousey’s popularity has been paired with sloppy PR mistakes, such as Rousey’s comments on social media in 2013 insinuating that the horrific shooting a year earlier that resulted in 26 deaths at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut was a prank featuring “crisis actors.” Rousey This excuse is 11 years after the norm.
Both women have left very definite marks on the sport and have helped to legitimize women’s MMA to a large number of fans. Now, after a combined 27 years of acting, the two women will meet in the main event of a huge project on Netflix.
Let’s take a closer look at the rest of the cards with the latest odds from DraftKings before getting to the prediction and expert picks for the main event below.
Rousey vs. Carano fight card, odds
- Ronda Rousey -625 Gina Carano +455 vs
- Mike Perry -205 vs
- Francis Ngannou -1350 Philipe Lins +800 vs
- Salahdine Parnasse -1350 vs. Kenneth Cross +800, lightweights
- Junior dos Santos +275, heavyweights
Prediction
In many ways, this main event feels like another Netflix show from quite a while ago: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul. As it was obvious to all fair observers, Paul won that fight easily, this is a fight that Rousey should never lose, and the fact that she is not the biggest favorite on the card does nothing. But, like Tyson vs. Paul, it feels like a fight that comes down to how much Rousey feels like dragging Carano through.
If she wants, Rousey can immediately use her judo, put the fight on the ground and move to a quick finish. But a lot of the build-up felt like two women trying to “put on a show”. In my mind, it’s still easy for the side with the fuller, more dynamic fighter to win less time off the game, but maybe things will draw in the second round. Pick: Ronda Rousey via SUB2
Who wins Rousey vs. Carano, and how exactly does the fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks and analysis from an incomparable expert who has raised over $2,500 in competitive picks and sports this year.