Gina Carano explains why Ronda Rousey fight never happened

Women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano explained why a matchup against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey never came to fruition.

Carano was a guest on Ariel Helwani’s ESPN MMA Show on Monday. Carano, who rarely does interviews with the MMA media, was asked if she was ever close to signing with the UFC to fight Rousey. Here’s what Carano said (h/t Aaron Bronsteter).

Gina Carano tells @arielhelwani that she was offered $1 million to face Ronda Rousey. She asked UFC brass for the time to build a camp for 6 months and the following day, Carano says Dana White was talking about signing Carano to face Rousey and she felt pressured.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) November 25, 2019

“Gina Carano tells @arielhelwani that she was offered $1 million to face Ronda Rousey. She asked UFC brass for the time to build a camp for 6 months and the following day, Carano says Dana White was talking about signing Carano to face Rousey and she felt pressured.”

According to Carano, she was offered $1 million to fight Rousey in what would have been by far the biggest fight in women’s MMA history at the time. Instead, Carano says that UFC president Dana White pressured her into accepting the fight, and it didn’t end up happening.

According to Carano, she accidentally received a nasty text message from White during contract negotiations.

Carano then says that she was accidentally sent a nasty text from Dana White that was about her.

He eventually apologized for it and the Ronda fight never came into fruition.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) November 25, 2019

“Carano then says that she was accidentally sent a nasty text from Dana White that was about her. He eventually apologized for it and the Ronda fight never came into fruition.”

Fans and media have always wondered the true story of why Carano never fought in the Octagon, and now we finally know the truth about it. Had Carano signed with the UFC, a fight against Rousey would have been one of the most marketable fights the promotion could have put on. It would have been a fight between two women’s MMA pioneers and fans and media would have absolutely loved it.

But the fight never happened, and we’ll never know what would have happened had Carano fought Rousey. And with both women well into retirement now, we never will.

Watch the interview below.

After being offered $1 million to face Ronda Rousey, @ginacarano details why the fight never came to fruition (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/bkHzxcwgXE

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 25, 2019

Who do you think would have won the fight had Gina Carano fought Ronda Rousey?