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Though the 145-pound division is most commonly referred to as featherweight, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker later stated that the title would be known as the Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship.<ref name="mmarising"/>
Though the 145-pound division is most commonly referred to as featherweight, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker later stated that the title would be known as the Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship.<ref name="mmarising"/>


Carano lost the fight against Santos by TKO at 4:59 in the first round.
Carano lost the fight against Santos by TKO at 4:59 in the first round[http://worldextremefighter.com/2009/08/17/cristiane-cyborg-santos-defeats-gina-conviction-carano-becomes-first-ever-strikeforce-female-145-pound-champion/].


==Outside mixed martial arts==
==Outside mixed martial arts==

Revision as of 00:17, 13 October 2009

Gina Carano
Born (1982-04-16) April 16, 1982 (age 42)
Dallas County, Texas
Other namesConviction
NationalityAmerican
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight143 lb (65 kg; 10.2 st)[1]
StyleBoxing, Muay Thai
Fighting out ofLas Vegas, Nevada
TeamXtreme Couture
Mixed martial arts record
Total8
Wins7
By knockout3
By submission1
Losses1
Draws0
No contests0

Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. Carano appeared as the Gladiator "Crush" on American Gladiators. She has been referred to as the "Face of Women's MMA."[2]

Carano lost by TKO to Cristiane Santos in Strikeforce's inaugural Women's Lightweight (145-Pound) Championship[3] bout in the main event of Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg.

Early life

Carano was born in Dallas County, Texas, the middle daughter of Glenn Carano and Dana Cason. She has two sisters.[4][5] Her father played for the Dallas Cowboys as a backup quarterback from 1977-1983 and for the USFL Pittsburgh Maulers as a starter in 1984, their only year of operations.

She graduated from Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas, NV where she led the girl's basketball team to a state title. She also played volleyball and softball.[6] She attended the University of Nevada, Reno for a year and then University of Nevada, Las Vegas for three, where she majored in psychology.[5]

Mixed martial arts career

Carano started her career in the sport of Muay Thai. After achieving a Muay Thai record of 12-1-1,[7] Carano received an offer to participate in the first-ever sanctioned female MMA bout in Nevada. She was invited to the World Pro Fighting show in Las Vegas to fight Rosi Sexton from the United Kingdom.[8]

She fought on the February 10, 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, defeating Julie Kedzie via unanimous decision in what was called "the fight of the night".[9]

Her scheduled bout against Jan Finney at the EliteXC/K-1 Dynamite!! USA event on June 2, 2007 was canceled due to illness. The Fight Network and other organizations reported that she was rushed to the hospital via ambulance due to dehydration while attending a World Extreme Cagefighting event as a spectator.[10]

Carano fought on the September 15, 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, where she defeated Tonya Evinger via rear naked choke for her first career win by submission.[11]

Carano defeated former HOOKnSHOOT Champion Kaitlin Young on EliteXC: Primetime on May 31, 2008.[12] A day before the fight, Carano failed to make weight for her fight after weighing in at 144.5 (65.5 kg). Although most MMA organizations set weight classes at 135 (bantamweight) and 145 (featherweight) pounds (61.2 and 65.8 kg, respectively), EliteXC opted to create a women's weight class at 140 pounds.[13] Carano agreed to forfeit 12.5% of her "show" purse to Young, and the fight remained on the card.[14]

Carano fought against Kelly Kobold on October 4, 2008 at EliteXC: Heat at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida which was broadcast on CBS.

Leading up to her fight against Kobold, there was much controversy over whether or not Gina would make weight for this fight, having fought only once in the past year and not making weight at that time. Gina assured critics that she would be able to make weight since she had hired a nutritionist to help with her dieting. At the weigh-in for the Kobold fight on October 3, 2008, "Gina Carano weighed in at 142.75 pounds on her first attempt.[15] After removing her sports bra, a towel-covered Carano weighed in a second time at 142.5 pounds.[16] On her third attempt without any clothes on, Carano weighed 141 pounds,[17] successfully making weight.

Early on, Kobold was intent on pressing Carano in the clinch, while working for the takedown throughout the fight. Kobold managed a takedown in the second round, but the round ended before she could take meaningful advantage of it. Carano worked her opportunities by hitting Kobold at every turn whenever the fighters separated, while also opening a huge gash on the inside of her opponent’s eyebrow in the first round.[18] At the end of the third round, Carano looked to finish the fight as she unloaded a head kick that landed flush on Kobold’s chin, but Kobold was not knocked out and the bout came to a close.[19]

Carano won by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)[20] and remained undefeated. After she won, she dedicated the fight to her grandfather.

The fight against Cristiane Santos was in the works for February 2009, until EliteXC folded. The possibility of the fight depended on which promotion the two women signed with next.[21]

Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship bout

After Strikeforce purchased the assets of ProElite, Carano, along with other fighters within the defunct promotion, became contractually linked with Strikeforce, after many months of a stalemate regarding their free agent status.[22]

It was announced at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields that Carano's fight against Santos would take place on August 15, 2009, at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. Strikeforce also created their first Women's Championship for the bout.

Though the 145-pound division is most commonly referred to as featherweight, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker later stated that the title would be known as the Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship.[3]

Carano lost the fight against Santos by TKO at 4:59 in the first round[2].

Outside mixed martial arts

Carano starred in the cult film Ring Girls.[23] Based on true events, Ring Girls is a fast-paced story about five American women from Las Vegas who take on the ultimate challenge of fighting the best female Muay Thai fighters in the world.[24]

Along with Lisa King, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring female fighters in the Oxygen reality series Fight Girls. She appeared as "Crush" on the NBC show American Gladiators (in which she also starred in the work out video of the show, along side with: Monica Carlson (Jet), Jennifer Widerstrom (Phoenix), Michael O'Hearn (Titan), Tanoai Reed (Toa) and Don "Hollywood" Yates (Wolf) The DVD was released in December 16, 2008. She is also featured in the new Michael Jai White film Blood and Bone.[25]

She was profiled in a feature story for the ESPN series E:60, and was voted "Hottest Woman In America" by Big Biz Magazine in the Spring 2008 issue.[26] On May 13, 2008, "Gina Carano" was the fastest-rising search on Google and third most searched person on Yahoo!.[4][27] She has also appeared in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 as Natasha,[28] a purchaseable hero unit, portraying the Soviet sniper/commando in various cutscenes.

She was ranked as #5 on the "Top Ten Influential Women of 2008" on Yahoo![29]

In May 2009 it was announced that Carano was ranked #16 in Maxim's Hot 100 list.

On September 6, 2009 she was reported to play the leading role in a new spy thriller movie "Knockout" directed by Steven Soderbergh. [30][31]

Personal life

Gina’s ex-boyfriend Kevin Ross, a pro Muay Thai fighter, got her involved in Muay Thai.[32]

MMA record

Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 7-1 Brazil Cristiane Santos KO Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg August 15, 2009 1 4:59 United States San Jose, California, USA For the Women's Lightweight (145-Pound) Championship[3]
Win 7-0 United States Kelly Kobold Decision (Unanimous) EliteXC: Heat October 4, 2008 3 3:00 United States Sunrise, Florida, USA
Win 6-0 United States Kaitlin Young TKO (Doctor Stoppage) EliteXC: Primetime May 31, 2008 2 3:00 United States Newark, New Jersey, USA
Win 5-0 United States Tonya Evinger Submission (Rear Naked Choke) EliteXC: Uprising September 15, 2007 1 2:53 United States Oahu, Hawaii, USA
Win 4-0 United States Julie Kedzie Decision (Unanimous) EliteXC: Destiny February 10, 2007 3 3:00 United States Southaven, Mississippi, USA
Win 3-0 United States Elaina Maxwell Decision (Unanimous) Strikeforce: Triple Threat December 8, 2006 3 2:00 United States San Jose, California, USA
Win 2-0 United Kingdom Rosi Sexton KO (Punch) WPFC 1 - World Pro Fighting Championships September 15, 2006 2 4:55 United States Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Win 1-0 United States Leiticia Pestova KO (Punches & Elbows) WEF - World Extreme Fighting June 10, 2006 1 0:38 United States Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

See also

References

  1. ^ Weight from weigh-in on August 14, 2009
  2. ^ "Gina Carano refutes position as "face of women's MMA"". MMAJUNKIE.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  3. ^ a b c "Strikeforce Post-Fight Press Conference Recap". MMARising.com. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  4. ^ a b Kevin Iole (May 28, 2008). Carano wants to be fighter first, star later. Yahoo Sports. Alt: [1]. Accessed 2008-08-01.
  5. ^ a b "interview Gina Carano". mat-magazine.com. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  6. ^ Jack Sheehan (September 1, 2007) Don't let her good looks fool you Stunning Gina Carano has a near-perfect record in mixed martial arts Las Vegas Sun. Accessed 2008-01-01.
  7. ^ "Full Transcript Of Exclusive Gina Carano Interview".
  8. ^ "World Pro Fighting - Las Vegas, September 15, 2006". WPFight.com. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  9. ^ "EXC live coverage from Southaven, MS". WrestlingObserver.com. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  10. ^ Sick Carano Off EliteXC Card (May 17, 2008) Sherdog.com Accessed 2007-05-17.
  11. ^ "Elite XC notes: Carano carries torch for sport". Yahoo! Sports. 2007-06-16. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  12. ^ Ariel Helwani (May 28, 2008) Carano: 'I just didn't really want to stay out of the ring' Fox Sports Accessed 2008-05-29
  13. ^ "GinaCarano and Weight Cutting". BLOODYELBOW.com. 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  14. ^ Carano Misses Weight (May 30, 2008) Sherdog.com Accessed 2008-08-01
  15. ^ "Gina Carano Gets Naked on the Scale to Make Weight for EliteXC Fight". MMAFANHOUSE.com. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  16. ^ http://164mph.com/Elite_Xtreme_Combat/news:elitexc-heat-weigh-in-results/
  17. ^ ""EliteXC: Heat" weigh-in results". MMAJUNKIE.com. 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  18. ^ "Shields Armbars Daley; Arlovski Flattens Nelson at 'Heat'". SHERDOG.com. 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  19. ^ "GINA CARANO DEFEATS KOBOLD, REMAINS UNBEATEN". MMAWEEKLY.com. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  20. ^ ""EliteXC: Heat" live round-by-round updates and official results". MMAJUNKIE.com. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  21. ^ http://mma.wrestlenewz.com/other-news/update-on-gina-carano-vs-cris-cyborg/
  22. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/mma/02/04/strikeforce.buying.proelite/index.html
  23. ^ http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1843.
  24. ^ http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/review.asp?Index=5440&User=10889
  25. ^ "Gina Carano N Michael Jai White Kick ass in Blood and Bone". Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  26. ^ http://www.mmachump.com/2008/07/gina-carano-hottest-female-fighter/
  27. ^ Google trends - Gina Carano (May 13, 2008) Google Accessed 2008-08-01.
  28. ^ Gina Carano as Natasha in Red Alert 3. (May 30, 2008) IGN. Accessed 2008-08-01.
  29. ^ "Women - Yahoo! 2008 Year in Review". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  30. ^ Fleming,Mike. "Soderbergh, Carano in "Knockout" pairing".
  31. ^ http://fightburger.com/gina-carano-to-star-in-major-film/
  32. ^ "It takes two to tangle Las Vegas native's desire to fight inspired top female MMA fighter to take up sport". LASVEGASSUN.com. 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
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