By Philip O'Connor
May 15 (Reuters) - Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey and fellow trail-blazer Gina Carano will set their sights on a blockbuster movie deal after they clash in the mixed martial arts cage this Saturday, with the card being shown on streaming service Netflix.
Now 44, Carano is arguably better known to current audiences for her acting career than her fighting prowess and inspired Olympic judo bronze medallist Rousey to switch to MMA, launching a career that saw her become one of the
sport's biggest names.
The UFC set up its women's bantamweight division specifically to showcase Rousey's talents and now, almost 10 years after her final fight for the promotion, she is returning to MMA to steal some of the shine she lent UFC, which has been criticised in the past for under paying fighters.
"Who's to say we can't parlay the success of this to me and her (Carano) making a genre-shattering martial arts film with Netflix after this? Rousey asked at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.
"Who says the success of this fight can't create the rival that UFC needs and give fighters the bargaining power that they've never had?"
In sporting terms, the fight has little chance of living up to Rousey's description of it as the "biggest MMA fight of all time" but the two pioneers of women's MMA have drawn eyeballs to the event backed by Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions.
"Hell, if we knock this out of the park I could become the face of MMA or the face of MVP in MMA and the most powerful figure in the sport since (UFC president) Dana (White)," Rousey said.
Now 39, Rousey built her legacy on her superb judo, chasing opponents down and throwing them to the mat before going for her favourite armbar submission, a move she used to win her first eight professional fights, seven of them in the first round.
However, her career came to a shuddering halt when she lost her bantamweight title in November 2015 after being knocked out by Holly Holm and just over a year later she was destroyed in less than a minute by Brazilian Amanda Nunes.
Rousey has not fought in the cage since.
The passing of time has, though, seen those two defeats become mere footnotes in the career of an athlete credited with bringing women's MMA and the sport in general into the mainstream.
She will now share a bill with Carano and fan favourites Nate Diaz and lineal heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou as Paul's MVP stages its first MMA event.
Asked for her definition of greatness in cage-fighting, Rousey said it remains the same as ever.
"Mine is making history, having a cultural impact and influencing the future of the sport."
Saturday's card takes place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
