Things didn’t go Gina Carano’s way Saturday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., but she still seems to have had a heck of a lot of fun.
In her first post-fight social media post Monday, Carano (7-2) called the fight and its lead-up “one of the best rides of my life.” Carano was submitted by Ronda Rousey in 17 seconds in the main event of the first MMA card to be streamed on Netflix.
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“This was one of the best rides of my life,” Carano wrote on Instagram. “I felt locked in fight night. No fear just focused positive adrenaline. Love to my team. My heart is heavy, I wanted to throw, battle, win, but I kicked when I should have moved and was down and done. If I hadn’t tapped she would’ve broken my arm, as it had begun to crackle. The disappointment of losing like that is very humbling.”
Carano, 44, had not competed since August 2009. In the days prior to Saturday’s bout, Carano opened up about the bout’s greater impact, both physically and mentally. Carano said she lost 100 pounds in its long-term preparation. She elaborated further in the statement Monday.
“I’ve been in a caloric deficit for a year, training felt like swimming as hard as I could upstream,” Carano said. “I can count on two hands the number of times I felt good training. It was physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done taking the weight off while turning back into an athlete. I felt like a science experiment losing 100lbs. Every week the pressure of how to get that little bit off. I learned a little late how to do it healthier but trial by fire. … I needed to go through this fight to implement permanent lifestyle changes and now I feel like this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see where I can push my body to go next.”
Check out Carano’s full statement below:
