Ronda Rousey has reportedly returned to retirement after overwhelmingly defeating martial arts pioneer Gina Carano in their non-championship return in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, fans witnessed a surprise armbar defeat after just 17 seconds.
American stars Rousey and Carano are highly regarded as two of the most prominent female champions in MMA history. Their remarkable achievements brought the sport to the mainstream over a decade ago during the height of their fighting era.
Carano had made a name for herself in her Hollywood career, appearing in several action film roles.
On the other hand, Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in the UFC, found tremendous success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) before initially retiring from the sport after consecutive defeats to Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm.
“Gina is the only person who could have brought me back to MMA – she is my hero,” Rousey said. “She changed my world, and we changed the world, and I will never forget that, and I will never be able to repay that enough.
“I’m so happy we could finally share this moment.”
Rousey reflected on possibly extending her comeback: “There’s no way I could have ended it better than this. I want to have more babies, so I have to start cooking.”
Carano has been sidelined from the sport since August 2009, while he returned to MMA last year after an interview. She recognized that the fight was too far for her, that she could have done it in a shorter time.
She is looking forward to regaining her physical strength, and in shape for her return, she revealed that she has lost more than 50 pounds in the past two years. For her, preparing for the competition was an important victory in itself.
“I feel great,” Carano said after the loss. “I wanted to fight, and I didn’t get to fight. But she trained. She had her game plan. I have so much love and respect for her, and this was a victory in my life. She changed it. I woke up every morning at three o’clock and thought about her. I fell in love with mixed martial arts again. There are a lot of things to think about. It’s just [that] the fight didn’t go my way.”
“I wanted this to last longer – I felt like I was so ready, I felt so good,” she said. “But I haven’t been here in seventeen years. I wanted to hit her.”
