Gina Carano on Ronda Rousey, Elon Musk’s legal help... and a return to acting?
Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sportGet our free Inside Sport newsletterGet our free Inside Sport newsletterAs Gina Carano dials into our Zoom call, she is celebrating her 44th birthday. Not actively celebrating – there’s no music, no balloons, no oversized badge pinned to a dress – but today is the day. Seated at a desk in a modestly-decorated room, sporting a black jumper, she seems at peace. They say life begins at 40, but at 44, she is about to start her fighting life all over again.Still, it was in the year she turned 40 that Carano got married, unbeknownst to the wider world, and this fresh decade has already been characterised by one of the most fraught chapters in her life: there was the tweet, the firing, and then the lawsuit. It’s a lot to delve into, but what follows is the short version. Carano’s retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2009, with her legacy as a trailblazer secured, gave way to an acting career that included film credits in Fast & Furious 6 and Deadpool, and on Star Wars show The Mandalorian. But Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm dropped Carano in 2021, after she shared a social-media post seemingly comparing political discourse in the US to persecution of the Jews before the Holocaust. Gina Carano at a press conference for her long-awaited return to MMA, against Ronda Rousey (Getty Images for Netflix)Lucasfilm accused Carano of “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities” and called the post “abhorrent and unacceptable”. In 2024, Carano filed a lawsuit claiming wrongful termination and sex discrimination; with Elon Musk offering legal support to people who had been “unfairly treated” for what they’d posted on X, his lawyers took on Carano’s case and a settlement was reached last year. With that episode behind her, Carano is set for an unexpected sequel: a return to the MMA cage, where she’ll stand across from fellow pioneer Ronda Rousey on 16 May, live on Netflix. With that fight looming – Carano’s first in 17 years and Rousey’s first in 10 – any tension or nerves would be understandable. Yet Carano has exuded contentment and gratitude at every turn.She seems to be in a great place in life, I half-ask. “Does it show??” she blushes. Could she have taken this fight if she wasn’t in such a place? “I think because of this challenge, it’s pushed me into this great place,” she says. “I had decided in September 2024: ‘Okay, I’m pre-diabetic, get your life together and stop wallowing; bad things happen to a lot of people.’ As soon as I decided that, I got a phone call from Elon Musk’s lawyers, and that was a surge of energy. “When you feel like something unjust happens to you, you’re like: ‘Is justice gonna happen?’ I finally let go: ‘You have a beautiful life, so jump back into it and get healthy.’ Long story short, saying yes to this fight gave me something to look forward to, even during the lawsuit. It pushed me to today, where I just feel like I’m in the best place I’ve ever been in my life. I feel like, even after this fight, I have a long way to go. So, once again MMA has come in and saved the day.”Is this end of a chapter then, given the settlement, or the start of new one, with her return to MMA?Carano with former ‘The Mandalorian’ co-star Pedro Pascal in 2019 (Getty)“It feels the start of a new me, even compared to six months ago,” Carano specifies. “I understand the process now. You get hurt, you feel that hurt; you pick yourself up, figure out what’s gonna make you tick and work; you set your goal and put it into action; then you learn from it. Even if it’s scary, you go through it, so I’m gonna take this process into whatever I do next – now that I know I can do something so extreme.”With that, Carano hints at the resumption of her acting career and potentially a first film or TV credit since 2022. “Hopefully some storytelling, because I feel like I have some unfinished business,” she says. “I don’t think I’ve even tapped into the talent that I have in storytelling. It’s one of the most-powerful things you can do, and I feel like I have the depth in me to really share that with the world.”Of course, there’s a danger in looking past her next on-screen appearance: in front of millions of viewers, likely, as she fights Rousey in a contest first mooted more than a decade ago. It was almost made in the UFC then, and the UFC tried to make the super-fight last year. Instead, Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions will air the bout.But in the 17 years since Carano last fought, what has her relationship with martial arts been like?Carano during her last MMA fight, against Cris Cyborg in 2009 (Getty)“I never let it go until five years ago,” she says, “and strangely enough, that’s when my life started falling apart. Now I realise: martial arts to me is like somebody else’s yoga or therapy. It helped me when I was 21, and here it is today, changing my life again. “I never knew when I was in my teens that I’d be a martial artist – we just got in a ton of street fights in Vegas – but it’s been a love story. I’m never letting it go again. I definitely have to access who I was, but it’s a whole different animal now. It feels almost magical, the timing of this fight.”Carano, despite her Disney controversy, has always held a special place in the hearts of longtime MMA fans. In contrast, Rousey has proven an abrasive figure – yet one who has started to win over fans in recent weeks.“When I talked to Ronda about this fight and met her in person,” Carano starts, “I was like: ‘Oh, she’s nothing like what the internet says.’ I was really confused. She didn’t mind being the ‘heel’ [a pro-wrestling term for a ‘villain’], but I asked her: ‘Why don’t you show people this side of you?’ She just likes to poke the bear sometimes, which I love! “I think years from now, we’ll look back at this big ball of fiery energy. When she went off [at Wednesday’s press conference], and you saw that passion come out, that’s so authentically raw and extremely beautiful to me. I wanted to stand up and start clapping! Carano facing off with Rousey, the day before Carano’s 44th birthday (Getty)“What she’s trying to fight for – fighter pay – it’s a beautiful thing. I really like to listen to what she’s got to say, because she’s got really good insight. I didn’t really get paid; it wasn’t really an option then.“I have so much respect for her. Ronda is a force to be reckoned with. I’m just a different personality; when I get like that, it’s only with my husband – the fire blood only comes out in private, when I know I’m right. It’s just really cool that Ronda is able to express that.”On 16 May, any form of expression will be purely pugilistic. Carano has never stopped fighting her corner, and against Rousey, she will need that fighting spirit.
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