NEW YORK (AP) — Ronda Rousey remembers once hearing that Gina Carano was being paid six figures to fight, amazed that a woman could earn that kind of coin in mixed martial arts.
It was a pretty big deal to Carano, too. The $120,000 she said she got to headline against Cris “Cyborg” Justino in 2009 in her last bout was quite a jump from the $1,000 she said she earned from her first.
The two pioneers will earn significantly more when they end their lengthy layoffs to face each other May 16 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. But Carano said Wednesday the opportunity for her meant far more than a paycheck.
This is the chance for the fighter-turned-actor to write an ending to her MMA journey, and for that she thanked Rousey.
“It's so crazy being here and having Ronda Rousey acknowledge what I did and most people would've written me off,” Carano said, appearing to get choked up. “I would have disappeared in history had she not wanted to fight me. So now people are like, she was a fighter, not just an actress.”
Indeed, and one of the most accomplished ones in her sport at one time. Carano (7-1) was a network draw in MMA's early days and fought in the first Nevada-sanctioned bout between women in 2006. But that wasn't giving her a good living, with Carano saying she also had to appear on “American Gladiators” on the side to help make ends meet.
Pay eventually wasn't a problem for Rousey, who went on to become one of the biggest superstars — male or female — in MMA. Nakisa Bidarian, the former UFC executive who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions with Jake Paul, said Rousey (12-2), who won the UFC’s first-ever women’s bout in 2013, had become the highest-paid female athlete in the world by 2015.
Now she wants other fighters to cash in, in ways that many never could in UFC. Rousey revealed during the press conference Wednesday that every fighter on the card that will stream on Netflix will earn a minimum of $40,000. That could clearly entice other mixed martial artists to Paul’s promotion by paying more than most fighters would ever get from the UFC.
“I want to do everything I can to help everybody else out in every way and that goes for people even at the bottom of the card that have very small records,” Rousey said. “They are important in making MMA more of a viable career path.”
It's unknown how much Carano and Rousey will make next month. But whatever it is will be far more than Carano, who turns 44 on Thursday, thought she'd ever make again in the sport. After leaving MMA after the loss to Justino, she appeared in several films and became a cast member of Disney’s “The Mandalorian.”
She faced mental and physical challenges in the years after fighting, gaining weight that is clearly gone as she prepares for five rounds at the 145-pound limit again. She said now it doesn't even feel like her last fight was so long ago.
It was Rousey who proposed they fight in 2024 and sought to work with MVP, having been impressed with its promotions when Paul fought Mike Tyson, and Amanda Serrano boxed Katie Taylor in some of the biggest women's boxing matches ever.
She noticed during the buildup how much fans had missed Tyson, the dominant heavyweight boxing force in the 1980s and '90s, and figured maybe they would feel the same way about the two MMA trailblazers.
“I knew that me and Gina bring something to the table that people miss,” Rousey said.
Rousey and Carano shared a lengthy embrace after the traditional face-off to end press conferences, in appreciation of what they had done before and what they are now doing together.
While Rousey knew all about her career, Carano said even some of her neighbors didn't.
“I'm like, YouTube me,” Carano said with a laugh. “I swear I'm on there.”
In a month she'll be on Netflix, where more than 300 million viewers can watch with their subscriptions a card that also includes MMA stars such as former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and Nate Diaz.
If MVP's first MMA promotion after four years of boxing is successful, more fighters will have the opportunities to make the kind of money Rousey believes they deserve when they enter her sport.
“It shouldn't be such a gamble,” she said.
AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts
FILE - Gina Carano, top, punches Cris "Cyborg" Santos, of Brazil, in a Strikeforce mixed martial arts Female Middleweight Championship match, Aug. 15, 2009, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Ronda Rousey holds up her hands before her women's bantamweight championship mixed martial arts bout with Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, Dec. 30, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
