“Gina’s Now the Villain Across Twitter” – UFC Veteran Recalls How Ronda Rousey Got Her Break Due to Pioneers Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg

Within a few bouts, Ronda Rousey became the face of WMMA in the world’s biggest MMA promotion, the UFC. However, there were other fighters who were known as the faces of WMMA before Ronda Rousey. Initially, it was Gina Carano who was the face of women’s MMA. When Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos made her entry into MMA with her savage fighting style, it transferred all the attention received by Carano over to ‘Cyborg’. When both fighters squared off at Strikeforce on August 15, 2009, the world didn’t realize that it would be the last MMA fight of the sensation that was Carano.

Carano lost the bout against Cyborg in the very first round via TKO. The loss marked the end of Carano’s career, as she went out to explore new horizons. Now, the world knows her as a Hollywood actress and a villain on Twitter due to her controversial behavior on social media platforms. The woman who beat her, Cris Cyborg, would terrify her opponents with her devastating striking ability. These two women have helped spread the popularity of WMMA and paved way for the Rowdy to try her hand at fighting.

Cris Cyborg and Gina Carano inspired many

Josh Thompson and John McCarthy were talking in Weighing in #346. The two had a detailed conversation about the changes that happened in WMMA over time. Thompson said, “Cris Cyborg makes more than a million dollars a fight. She’s nasty. She’s good, you know, like she’s got a long legacy of making really good money for a female fighter especially in the sport. She absolutely deserves. She’s helped pave the way for so many young females that come along, I mean her, Marloes Coenen, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey. Those four girls mean… I know we got into the Jennifer Howe and the Julie Kedzie.” 

While talking on the same topic McCarthy mentioned, “Gina was the face, the first face, Cris was the villain, Carano belongs in that list.” In reply to McCarthy, Thompson pointed out the major change, “Wow, how things have changed, Gina’s now the villain across Twitter.”

Who was the old villain?

Carano began her professional fighting career in 2006; however, the MMA world never expected that her time inside the cage would be this brief. She left the sport in 2009, and now she is a successful actress who has played major roles in “Deadpool”, “Haywire”, “Terror on the Prairie”, etc.

READ MORE: Cris Cyborg Reacts as Kayla Harrison Smears Her Legacy

Cyborg became a villain when she knocked the face of MMA. However, it is the efforts of fighters like her that made it possible for other great fighters like Ronda Rousey to come and thrive in the sport.

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