Gina Carano is getting ready to compete again after many years away from the sport. Her last fight came in 2009, and now she is set to return against Ronda Rousey.
A lot has changed since her early days. Women’s MMA was still developing, and the structure around fights was very different from what fighters experience today.
Speaking on the JAXXON podcast, Carano explained how things used to be.
“I’ve only ever fought one five-minute round, and that was another first, was the Cyborg fight,” Carano said. “We fought really hard to make our fight five-minute rounds. All of them were three [minute rounds] before. So yeah, I’m kind of just jumping in.”
Her last bout came against Cris Cyborg, a fight that showed how the sport was beginning to shift at that time.
RONDA ROUSEY AND GINA CARANO’S FIRST-EVER FACE OFF #RouseyCarano
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Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
Saturday May 16
LIVE only on Netflix pic.twitter.com/ZAIjWIGeWB— netflix⁷ (@netflix) March 10, 2026
A very different way of training
Carano said preparation in her early career was not focused on strategy. Fighters often relied on instinct rather than detailed planning.
“Well, to be very honest, I was a bit crazy, a little out of my mind in my 20s,” Carano said. “I was fighting out of a place of survival. I was fighting out of a place of — nobody ever really game planned me for a fight. Nobody ever sat me down and was like, ‘OK, this is your opponent, this is what you’re going to do.’ It was always me going and being like, ‘OK, get up from the bottom.’
“That’s why when you see the Cyborg fight, I’m like [jumps back, surprised]. I jumped off. I had mount, and I was like, ‘I’m going to get up now.’ …”
She also described how informal early fights could be, especially at smaller events.
“That’s what we did. From the moment I started, we’d go to smokers, and you just show up and fight whoever’s in that gym. I remember showing up one time to a smoker, and there was this dude, very intimidating, weighing in at 165, and I was probably around 145 at that time. … At smokers, you just fight the person that’s there, and then the dude turned, it was a girl, and I was like, ‘Shit.’ That was the only person in my weight class. It just ended up being a funny thing where … I hit her twice and kicked her twice, and she got out of the ring and walked out of the smoker. …
“But like, no. Nobody ever planned me. We’re game planning now. … It’s really cool to actually have a game plan for a specific opponent.”
Confidence ahead of comeback
Now at 44, Carano is stepping into a sport that has evolved in every area, from training to competition level. Fighters now study opponents closely and prepare with specific plans.
Even after a long break, she believes the outcome is far from decided.
“I think she thinks she’s going to roll over me, and I don’t think that’s the case at all,” Carano said. “That’s not how it’s played out in my mind. The way it’s played out in my mind, that’s not the case.”
This fight brings together two well-known figures from different stages of women’s MMA. Carano helped build the early foundation, while Rousey later brought the sport into mainstream attention.
Her return shows how much the sport has grown, while also giving her a chance to compete again in a completely new environment.
