Way back in 2011, Dana White famously told TMZ Sports that women would never compete inside the Octagon. All of this changed just two years later when the head honcho signed then Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to the UFC. Not only that, ‘Rowdy’ was even awarded the inaugural UFC women’s 135lbs strap which she went on to defend against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. Add five more defenses to that record and you have perhaps the greatest women’s MMA fighter in your grasp! It is safe to say that Rousey took women’s MMA ahead by at least 20 years and broke into the mainstream even just before Conor McGregor came and took over. But wait! Are we missing something?

Did women’s MMA kickstart with Rondy Rousey? Well, think again! More importantly, why are we talking about this today? Let’s get some things clear first. Recently, ESPN MMA’s Instagram account shared a post titled ‘These Stars Changed Women’s MMA in the 21st Century’ to celebrate Women’s History Month. The list comprised legends such as Holly Holm, Megumi Fujii, Miesha Tate, Zhang Weili, Rose Namajunas, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Valentina Shevchenko, Ronda Rousey (placed at #3), Cris Cyborg, and Amanda Nunes who topped the list.

But almost as soon as it was posted on their media handles, fans took strong exceptions. As already discussed, many pointed out how ‘Rowdy’ was the single biggest reason White decided to put aside his opposition to having women in the UFC, and thus may be the most influential woman to ever strap on the fingerless gloves. However, many were even more outraged at the total exclusion of the women’s MMA pioneer whom even ‘Rowdy’ credits with getting the ball rolling. This is where Gina Carano comes into play! And UFC veteran Josh Thomson explained she deserves to be on the list.

“That’s, like, not having Royce Gracie on the Mount Rushmore… There would be, like, there would be no women’s MMA without her. And I’m not trying to get anything away from Cris Cyborg, but the marketability was Gina Carano. Just seeing what she brought– she brought media, she brought everything to the table. Not just because of her dad, but because of the way she fought. She was mainly a stand-up fighter, you know, and she had a kickboxing background. She had the looks, she talked well,” Thomson told co-host ‘Big’ John McCarthy on their ‘Weighing In’ podcast.

“She carried, you know, women’s MMA on her back and she wore it like a badge of honor. I don’t think she even, like, considered it being like ‘This is going to revolutionize this sport.’ She was the reason why they were the very first female main event, and that was on Showtime, one of the biggest platforms at the time. I mean she did everything she could. So to not have her on that list is a slap in the face,” he added.

For the unversed, Carano and Cris Cyborg became the first women to headline a major MMA event at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on 15 August 2009. In addition, Carano was also part of the first-ever sanctioned women’s MMA bout in Nevada way back in June 2006 when she faced Leticia Pestova under the banner of WEC. Apart from that, Carano and Julie Kedzie also competed in the first women’s MMA bout in history to air on live TV in Feb 2007.

Although her eight-fight, three-year fight career was quite brief, she was the first to draw attention to women’s MMA, in part because of her skills which made her very marketable. Moreover, her stint with Elite XC was also the stuff of legend. So her exclusion from the list was surprising, even for Dana White.

Dana White and Gina Carano are on the same page about the ESPN list despite a fraught history

Gina Carano and Dana White do not share the most amicable relationship. ‘Conviction’ was in talks to fight Ronda Rousey in 2014, but the negotiations fell through abruptly. As a pre-condition for the negotiations, she had insisted that White had kept their talks under wraps.

However, the ‘Deadpool’ star was very displeased by the head honcho talking about signing her almost immediately, despite their agreement. She recalled getting a text from White, where he called ‘a b—h’ who was wasting their time, and as you can imagine, that was the last time they ever talked. But despite this acrimonious history, even the UFC CEO was shocked at Carano not making the cut. “@ginajcarano not being on the list is INSANE,” he commented on ESPN MMA’s post.

After all, it is hard to say that the fighter who put women’s MMA on the map and headlined the first women-led card wasn’t influential for the sport. As for ‘Conviction’ herself, she is taking the alleged snub in stride, laughing off her exclusion, and pointing out how the entire MMA world, including Dana White, has rallied to her defense.

“You think @espnmma: Do not have qualified journalists who know real WMMA history, or are they trying re-write history by keepin me out of it? Even Dana @danawhite called them out. 😂🙏,” Carano wrote in an X post. What do you think about Thomson and White’s reaction to Gina Carano being kept off the list?