Ronda Rousey needed just 17 seconds to score a takedown and snatch her signature armbar submission to finish Gina Carano in her one-night comeback to MMA.
Following a decade long layoff, Rousey worked tirelessly to face Carano in her return to the cage and it was Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions that finally made it happen. But the action was over before it ever really got started with Rousey taking Carano down during the first exchange in the fight.
Rousey wasted no time throwing punches and then
grabbing the armbar with Carano tapping out just a split second later. Afterwards, Rousey paid homage to Carano but she had no desire for the fight to last any longer than it did as she adds another sub-one minute finish to her Hall of Fame resume.
“Gina is the person who brought me into MMA, she’s the only person who could have brought me back to MMA,” Rousey said following the win. “She’s my f*cking hero. You changed my world and we changed the world. I will never be able to pay you back enough. I’m glad we finally got to share this moment.
“I was hoping to come out as unscathed as possible because I didn’t really want to hurt her. It’s beautiful martial arts.”
Rousey was an overwhelming favorite heading into the fight and the result played out like many expected.
As for Carano, she was returning to MMA after 17 years away and while she didn’t seem all that surprised by how the fight ended, she did wish she actually got a chance to throw a few punches before the finish.
“I wanted that to last longer,” Carano said. “I felt like I was so ready. I wanted to hit her. I’ll probably feel that later. Getting in the cage was a victory. Fighting a legend was a victory. I feel great. I just feel like I wanted a fight and I didn’t get that. This was a victory in my life.”
Carano famously said she lost 100 pounds to get ready for the fight against Rousey after she endured a a very tough period in her life following her firing from the Star Wars series The Mandalorian and a lawsuit against Disney that was eventually settled out of court.
At 44, Carano didn’t completely shut the door when it came to fighting again but she mostly sounded happy that she got the chance to share the cage with Rousey on Saturday.
As for the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Rousey made it clear that she was done fighting and her comeback was based solely around facing Carano. Now that she has that win on her record, Rousey is retiring from combat sports again.
“There’s no way I could have ended it better than this,” Rousey said. “I want to have some more babies and I want to get cooking.”
