Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano collide in a five-round MMA showdown with nostalgic vibes this Saturday in California, on a show promoted by Most Valuable Promotions that airs live on Netflix. The women’s MMA pioneers have been preparing for months, and they share a common training partner: UFC bantamweight Jacqueline Cavalcanti.
Undefeated in five UFC appearances and ranked No. 9 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, Cavalcanti was invited by Rousey to spar in Las Vegas in July of 2025. Cavalcanti was called
back a couple of times, but couldn’t train with the former UFC champion due to a wrist injury on one occasion and missed out on another opportunity due to being out of town.
“It was funny because I had just sparred with Ronda,” Cavalcanti told MMA Fighting, “And a month later, or maybe a week later, Gina started training at Syndicate. I was like, ‘Wow, what a coincidence.’”
Cavalcanti, who later booked her next appearance for the same date, battles top-ranked Ketlen Vieira at the Meta APEX this Saturday at UFC Vegas 117. She became aware Rousey and Carano were actually working on a deal to to face each other in a double comeback fight, so she had to pass on an offer to train with Rousey.
“Then I actually found out [Rousey] was going to fight Gina Carano and Gina Carano is training with me at Syndicate,” Cavalcanti said, “So I said, ‘I won’t be able to [train anymore], unfortunately.’ I can’t be on both sides of the fence.”
Rousey hasn’t fought in MMA since losing to Amanda Nunes in December of 2016. Carano’s last fight took place in 2009, a defeat to Cris Cyborg in the Strikeforce cage. Carano was scheduled to return two years after that, but bout with Sarah D’Alelio was cancelled due to medical reasons.
Cavalcanti made her pro MMA debut in 2018, years after Rousey and Carano left the sport and understands both athletes and their importance to the game.
“I already knew Gina when I watched her fight against Cris Cyborg,” Cavalcanti said. “I’m a big fan of Cris and I remember watching that fight between those two killers, and when I met Gina at Syndicate she said, ‘Hi, I’m Gina Carano.’ She looked quite different. She’s lost a lot of weight now, but when she came back to training she was still getting back to fighting shape.”
Rousey and Carano had been working in the gym many months prior to the official announcement of their clash, and Cavalcanti had the chance to work with both—even if for one day only, in the case of Rousey.
“I really feel that Ronda hasn’t changed anything from what she already was,” Cavalcanti said. “She’s still so good when she closes the distance, the transitions to judo and then jiu-jitsu. And like I said, it was one of her first sparring sessions back so she was still getting back in shape. Hitting pads and doing some drills is very different from sparring, right? Sparring demands much more from your cardio. Mentally too, but especially your lungs, so sometimes she needed a bit more time to recover between rounds. But technique-wise, I feel she’s very sharp and still has it.”
“I think when you learn how to ride a bike you never forget, you know,” Cavalcanti continued. “Her judo, everything is very well-tuned. I never trained with Ronda in her prime so I don’t know if she still has the same strength and power she had before, but today, comparing her and Gina, we can say they’re at a similar level because Gina is a bit older, Ronda is a few years younger, but they’re very close.”
Rousey recently revealed she spoke with UFC CEO Dana White about the Carano fight but “it didn’t exactly work out with the UFC.” She ultimately reached a deal with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix, and Cavalcanti expects the sport to benefit from their return.
“Netflix has massive reach and will bring in audiences that may have never followed MMA, especially women’s MMA, which is still growing a lot,” Cavalcanti said. “It’s still a more male-dominated sport, but we see women’s MMA growing today, getting more opportunities, women showing they have technique and fight IQ. Not to mention the investment.
“I think Jake Paul and his company must be paying millions. For Ronda to leave her home and come back to fight in front of the public, they must be paying very, very well. I think their paychecks will be magnificent, but for women’s MMA it will open many doors because more people will start following and sponsors and investors will come not only for women but for MMA as a whole.”
