American actress and former mixed martial arts star Gina Carano will hold her first MMA fight in nearly 17 years. The 44-year-old athlete will face Ronda Rousey in the main event of the first MMA tournament on the Netflix platform. This was reported by AP, according to UNN.
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For Carano, this will be her first official bout since 2009, when she ended her career following a fight against Cris Cyborg.
The bout between Carano and Rousey is expected to be one of the highest-profile events of the year in the world of combat sports.
"I think this fight is happening exactly when it's supposed to happen,"
According to the athlete, a new stage in her life and the resumption of full-scale training helped her return to the octagon.
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Carano was one of the first female stars in MMA back in the 2000s, when mixed martial arts were just beginning to gain popularity in the US. She became one of the first fighters to achieve widespread television fame even before the era of UFC dominance in women's MMA.
After retiring from her career, Carano became an actress
After her loss to Cris Cyborg in 2009, Carano received an offer from director Steven Soderbergh to play the lead role in the action film "Haywire," which effectively launched her acting career.
In the following years, she starred in Hollywood films and series, yet continued her martial arts training.
Carano also noted that she never officially announced her retirement from sports and has maintained her form over the years alongside her husband, former kickboxer Kevin Ross.
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