“Conviction” is hurting — but proud.
Women’s mixed martial arts (MMA) pioneer Gina Carano suffered a devastating 17-second submission loss to former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Ronda Rousey in the main event of MVP MMA 1 this past weekend (Sat., May 16, 2026) inside Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California (watch highlights).
The defeat marked Carano’s first fight in nearly 17 years and instantly became one of the biggest talking points of the historic Netflix event.
Carano did not attend
the post-fight press conference following the quick loss. Now, two days later, the women’s MMA legend has finally broken her silence with a lengthy and emotional statement on social media reflecting on the fight, the brutal training camp and what the moment meant to her personally.
“This was one of the best rides of my life. I felt locked in fight night. No fear just focused positive adrenaline. Love to my team.
My heart is heavy. I wanted to throw, battle, win, but I kicked when I should have moved and was down and done. If I hadn’t tapped she would’ve broken my arm, as it had begun to crackle. The disappointment of losing like that is very humbling.
Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez came up to my table after the fight. They set my mind straight. Jon said, “You haven’t fought in 17 years? Do you know how big your balls have to be to get back in there after that long? Did you set some sort of record or something? Respect!”
That’s exactly what I needed to hear from the best to ever to do it. I’ve been in a caloric deficit for a year, training felt like swimming as hard as I could upstream. I can count on two hands the number of times I felt good training. It was physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done taking the weight off while turning back into an athlete. I felt like a science experiment losing 100lbs. Every week the pressure of how to get that little bit off. I learned a little late how to do it healthier but trial by fire. The California Athletic Commission is great and one of the strictest in the world. They weighed me a week and a half before the fight, extra tests and scans, multiple drug tests. We weighed in and they weighed us the night of the fight to make sure we complied with the rehydration rules, which I passed all easily. I needed to go through this fight to implement permanent lifestyle changes and now I feel like this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see where I can push my body to go next.
I’m so glad the world got to experience this version of Ronda Rousey. I found a beautiful woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister and legend. I adore you lady. We made history, again.
I hope MVP MMA and Netflix continue on because they CRUSHED it. Respect where respect is due. Nakisa Bidarian and Jake Paul, it was such a great experience.
Thank you ALL for showing your support. It’s because of you we get to face our fears and live our dreams. With all my heart, thank you all.”
Despite the disappointing result, Carano’s return itself was viewed as a victory considering the amount of time she spent away from combat sports and the incredible physical transformation she underwent to make the fight happen.
The former Strikeforce star reportedly lost 100 pounds during camp while rebuilding herself into fighting shape after nearly two decades away from active competition.
As for what comes next, Carano (7-2) has remained non-committal about fighting again. While she has not officially ruled out another bout, she has hinted that she wants to return to Hollywood, continue acting and possibly transition into directing films in the future.
If this ultimately was the final chapter of her combat sports career, Carano exits as one of the true trailblazers of women’s MMA — someone who helped make fights like this possible in the first place.
For complete ‘Rousey vs. Carano’ fight card results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
