Gina Carano shared an emotional message ahead of her long-awaited MMA return against Ronda Rousey, revealing she lost more than 100 pounds before stepping back into the cage for the first time in nearly 17 years.
Carano, 44, posted the statement Friday after weighing in at 141.4 pounds for Saturday’s fight at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
The matchup against Rousey headlines Most Valuable Promotions’ highly anticipated debut MMA event on Netflix, on a card that will also feature, among others, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and longtime MMA standout Nate Diaz.
“Ok. Vulnerable post but here we are. I just weighed in at 141.4 lbs,” she wrote on X. “Since Sept 2024 to today, May 15, 2026, I have lost 100lbs. It hurts to say that and share but I am going to share it because I worked so damn hard every week for over a year and a half to shed this weight. It did not happen overnight.
“If it wasn’t for having this incredibly challenging goal in fighting @rondarousey I most definitely wouldn’t have reached this. I was pre-diabetic, had trouble simply walking in September 2024 and have been on the path to recovery to turn myself back into an athlete since then. It was hard, SO damn hard.. there was so much to learn, too much to unpack here, ups, downs, plateaus, things I learned late I wish I learned earlier, trial by error but I did it. Thank you to Ronda, who waited patiently while I lost this weight and giving me something to aim for.”
Carano added that she looks at this as the start of something as opposed to the end, as this is her first fight since 2009, when she was stopped by Cris Cyborg via TKO.
Carano left MMA with a 7-1 record, with three wins coming by knockout and one submission.
“There is still so much I need to learn and want to do in the health space and to continue transforming my body, but for today, I thank God, my husband and my family for sticking with and encouraging me the whole way. I pray this encourages you wherever you are in your health journey,” she continued. “Believe there is hope. Never give up. Ok.. enough emo, I’ve got a fight tomorrow.”
The former Strikeforce star lost to Cyborg in the first women’s fight to headline a major MMA event.
Carano finished her original MMA run before transitioning into acting, where she appeared in films including “Haywire,” “Fast & Furious 6” and “Deadpool.”
She was also part of hit “The Mandalorian” series on Disney+ but was fired after she compared being conservative in the United States to being Jewish in Nazi Germany.
Carano, who filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against Disney in 2024, settled with the company a year later.
Carano’s MMA return against Rousey has become one of the biggest combat sports stories of the year due to the historical significance of both fighters.
Rousey weighed in at 142 pounds Friday, slightly above Carano but still well under the MMA featherweight limit for the bout.
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