The Doggy Bag: Carano's Decision

Hi Loretta, I was reading your article about Gina Carano and the UFC. I can only say I do not believe the story. I have been with fightergirls for years, was at HooknShoot’s first show and continue to be involved in women’s MMA. It’s like asking a person from college to go to a pro football, baseball, basketball team. They are lined up and ready to go! I know because Debi Purcell has fought for years to get on the UFC and was given a flight to meet with Dana but it never happened. Debi was the first to get Terry (King of the Cage) to put women on their show. I know that Gina is a person EliteXC sunk major money into, but I do not see Strikeforce doing the same for her.

Honestly, I do not believe she was offered the UFC! If so, she was stupid not to take the biggest and best show out there.
-- Chad Moechnig

Loretta Hunt, news editor: Chad, thanks for taking the time to write.

First of all, believe that the UFC wanted Carano. They did, and this was after UFC President Dana White had publicly turned his nose up at women’s MMA on a few occasions in the last couple years. Nobody likes to have to backtrack, but White and Lorenzo Fertitta, the majority owner of the UFC along with his brother, Frank, are businessman, and that was what spurred them on to meet with Carano back in February. They knew a star when they saw one, one that could make them lots and lots of money.

Though Carano was very careful not to divulge many details about the meeting, some kind of verbal offer was laid out. I don’t believe they discussed money in that meeting, but if Carano and her reps had pursued it, I’m sure figures would have been broached quickly. That’s if Carano and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker hadn’t gotten in some legal squabble over the fighter’s transferred EliteXC contract.

I definitely get a sense in the industry today that some people don’t want Carano to succeed. They don’t want to believe that multiple promotions would be interested in her, and that she’s some kind of commodity in this business.

There were many talented female fighters to come before Gina, so why should she get all the glory, attention, fame and (possible) fortune?

Does it have something to do with her looks? Absolutely. I’m positive that is the first thing EliteXC’s former honcho, Gary Shaw, saw back in 2006, and he was savvy enough to lock her up into a multi-fight contract.

Lucky for Shaw, Carano can also fight. There’s no denying it. She has technique and she has power. She’s improved in each fight, which I believe has a lot to do with her facing stronger and stronger opponents. Most importantly, Gina has intensity. People like to watch her fight. That’s something that isn’t taught. You just have it or you don’t.

Gina has the looks, the skills, the intensity, and one more thing -- the timing. She is resonating with people now, people who are finally ready to watch female fighters.

Gina’s Achilles heel is her inability to make weight for fights, which (pardon my pun) shouldn’t be taken lightly. Maybe some people feel she doesn’t deserve all this success because she can’t follow the rules. I guess I can understand this. If she keeps missing weight, I believe Carano should be penalized like any other fighter by subtracting from her purse. An opponent also has the right to turn down the fight if she can’t make weight. I hope it doesn’t come to this, but these are options.

When I first knew I was going to meet Gina, I thought, “This is a stunning looking girl who’s used to having everything handed to her in life.” I braced myself for conceit, attitude, and the mother of all MMA prima donnas.

I couldn’t have been more wrong in my assessment. Gina is polite, charming, self-effacing, and I have to constantly remind myself that many of our readers don’t know this when I write about her.

I believe Gina when she tells me she chose Strikeforce over the UFC, because she thought it was a better decision for women’s MMA in general. When I called Gina last week to set up an interview for her Aug. 15 fight, she insisted I also set up an interview with her opponent, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. She insisted (I was going to anyway, Gina). That doesn’t sound like a spoiled, self-centered, selfish person to me.

Now, let’s talk about reality. Whether people like it or not, Gina Carano is going to have an influential role in not only the shaping of women’s MMA, but in the direction of the sport as a whole.

I guarantee you she will single-handedly garner more press and media attention than UFC 100. Just wait and see. The interest Gina generates will turn a whole new section of fans onto Strikeforce and MMA, and I wholeheartedly believe we will be watching Carano, Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields, and the rest of Strikeforce’s expanding stable on CBS by January 2010.

The “trickle-down effect” of this is obvious. Strikeforce will start to make more money and then fighters -- male and female -- will be able to ask Strikeforce for more money.

Other promotions will prosper. The UFC will prosper. More women will get an opportunity to fight, which is why I think Carano should be embraced by the MMA community, not glowered at by it from the sidelines.

Oh and Chad, Coker knows full well what he got his hands on in Carano. He wouldn’t have put her in a headlining role if he didn’t have full faith she could carry a show. He will spend whatever money necessary to advertise her to the world because that’s a sound business decision. Coker has big plans, not just for Carano, but for an army of female fighters. Gina will be his key to achieving it.