Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano previewed their bout and came face to face at the kickoff press conference. The two fighters square off on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, headlining the first MMA card live on Netflix. The contest is scheduled for five rounds at featherweight.
Rousey (12-2) of Riverside, California, hasn’t fought in nearly 10 years, following back-to-back defeats to Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm. The 39-year-old former UFC bantamweight champion said the fight could have potentially happened as the final UFC card on PPV, but the timing wasn’t right for Carano.
“I knew that we could promote this on our own and that would probably be the most lucrative way to go about it for us, but I have such love and respect for Dana [White] that I wanted to bring this to him first,” Rousey said.
“I said, ‘I can do this on my own, but I would rather fight for you than fight for me. Just make it make sense for me.'”
“Originally, we were going to do it on New Year’s, and it was going to be the last fight under the pay-per-view structure, and he offered me the best pay-per-view structure ever.”
“I was so grateful, but then Gina said she needed more time to get in the best shape possible. She wanted me to fight the best version of herself. I think that was fate. It was meant to be. It was meant to push us into the other side.”
‘Ronda personally asked me’
Carano (7-1) of Dallas County, Texas, returns after more than 16 years, since suffering her first defeat to Cris Cyborg in 2009. The 43-year-old said she returned to the fight game to face only Rousey, as both fighters share mutual respect and want to compete against each other.
“Obviously, the motivation is that Ronda personally asked me,” Carano said. “She was quite the charmer. She asked me politely. She thanked me for so much. She inspired me. Other jobs kind of came up during this, but nothing was as important as this.”
“She’s like wagging her tail, and she’s charming, but at the same time, she wants to rip my arm off and shove it up my a**.”
“It is pretty incredible and surreal to be here today. It’s healing. It’s exciting. It’s everything I could have hoped for. I didn’t know I needed this so bad.”
The press conference also featured the co-main event fighters: Cameroonian-French former UFC champion Francis Ngannou (18-3) and former UFC fighter and 2018 PFL champion Philipe Lins (18-5) of Brazil.
Other bouts for the Rousey vs Carano card are expected to be confirmed shortly.