Mixed martial arts star Ronda Rousey demolished fellow combat sports trailblazer Gina Carano in their long-awaited non-title comeback bout in Los Angeles on Saturday, defeating her rival by armbar after just 17 seconds.
American stars Rousey, 39, and Carano, 44, are widely regarded as two of the most important female fighters in the history of MMA, helping to take the sport into the mainstream during their fighting heydays more than a decade ago.
Hollywood career
Carano had parlayed her success into a Hollywood career, appearing in several action movie roles, but had not fought since 2009 before her appearance in Saturday’s featherweight bout.
Ronda Rousey, a 2008 Olympics judo bronze medallist who subsequently found huge success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), retired from the sport in 2016 after suffering back-to-back defeats against Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm.
But the two fighters were lured back into the cage for Saturday’s card at the Intuit Dome with the promise of a bumper payday that will reportedly see each fighter earn several million dollars from the streaming giant.
After a hype-filled build-up, the bout itself was a juddering anti-climax, with Rousey flooring Carano almost immediately before wrestling her into an armbar to end the fight.
One-off
Ronda Rousey insisted afterwards her return to the ring was a one-off and ruled out the possibility of fighting again after paying tribute to Carano.
“Gina is the only person who could have brought me back into MMA – she’s my hero,” Rousey said.
“She changed my world, and we changed the world and I’ll never ever forget that or be able to pay that back enough.
“I’m so glad we finally go to share this moment.”
Asked about possibly extending her comeback, Ronda Rousey added: “There’s no way I could have ended it better than this. I want to have some more babies, got to get cooking.”
Shed 100 pounds
Carano meanwhile said the mere fact of getting in shape for her return – she revealed before the bout she had shed more than 100 pounds (45kg) in the two years leading up to the contest – was a victory.
“I wanted that to last longer – I felt like I was so ready, I felt so good,” she said.
“But I haven’t been here for 17 years. I wanted to hit her.
“Right now, just getting in the cage was a victory, getting here after 17 years is a victory. Fighting a legend was a victory. I feel great, I just wanted to fight, and I didn’t get to do that.”
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
