Ronda Rousey has nothing but respect for Gina Carano and would return for that fight.
Ronda Rousey helped put women's MMA on the map. But she credits her interest in fighting to Gina Carano. Because of this, Gina is still the one person that Rondo would return to MMA to fight. She tells Kurt Angle as much on the most recent episode of his podcast, The Kurt Angle Show.
"There’s only one person. There’s only one person I would come back for. I mean, I’ve said it a million times, for Gina, man. Gina Carano, she’s the reason why I got into fighting, she’s the reason why I knew it was a possibility. I will always be forever grateful," said Ronda. "If she ever was like, ‘Ronda, I wanna fight you tomorrow at 205 pounds,’ like whatever the hell she’d want, I’m not saying she’s 205 pounds.
"If she wanted to come into my backyard and do the Rocky thing, you know, 'ding-ding' and we just do it in the backyard, I don’t care," Ronda added. "I will fight Gina wherever she wants and if she doesn’t want to, forever, [I will leave that offer there]. It’s a respect thing, not like a, ‘Fuck you. I’m coming to get you.’ It’s just like, 'Hey, if you ever wanna pull that card out, it’s there. I love her. Thank you, Gina, for everything you’ve done.”
In 2019, Gina Carano explains why a fight between her and Ronda in the UFC never occurred. Carano said she was offered the fight, but ultimately, it never materialized.
These days, Ronda is completely devoted to WWE. She is the current WWE SmackDown Women's Champion. She was also the first woman to headline WrestleMania back in 2019. At the end of that match, there was some controversy as her shoulder was not completely on the mat for the final pinfall. Ronda Rousey addresses that controversy elsewhere in the interview with Kurt Angle. Learn more here.
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