Why Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano are making MMA comebacks in their 40s

Why Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano are making MMA comebacks in their 40s originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Good things come to those who wait. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano have waited a double-digit number of years to get back into the octagon, and that streak is finally ending on Saturday night.

The two MMA fighters will be facing off at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on May 16. The two fighters will be 39 (Rousey) and 44 (Carano) come fight night, but both wanted a return to fighting more than anything. Thanks to Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions, a company established by Jake Paul, the fight will be a reality at the end of the week.

Here’s how old each of the fighters is heading into their first MMA fight in 10 or more years.

MORE: What did Ronda Rousey say about Kayla Harrison?

How old is Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano?

Ronda Rousey was born on February 1, 1987, and is currently 39 years old. Gina Carano, born in 1982, will be 44 years old come fight night after celebrating her birthday on April 16.

If the fight had been a UFC-sanctioned event, Carano would have been the oldest fighter in UFC history, according to The Sportster.

Rousey began her UFC career at 26 years old. She made her official UFC debut at UFC 157 on February 23, 2013. She was the first female fighter signed by the UFC, and quickly rose to fame by becoming the inaugural Women’s Bantamweight Champion.

Unlike Rousey, Carano ended her MMA career prior to the UFC’s inclusion of women to their fight cards. She started her professional mixed martial arts career in 2006 at the age of 24. During her prime fighting years, she competed in promotions like EliteXC and Strikeforce before retiring in 2009 after her championship fight against Cris Cyborg. Carano was a pioneer in women’s MMA, as she was a part of the first women’s MMA fight to be broadcast on live television in 2007. A year prior to that fight, she partook in Nevada’s first sanctioned women’s MMA fight, according to ESPN.

Ronda Rousey age

Ronda Rousey was born on February 1, 1987, and is currently 39 years old.

During her five-year MMA career, three of which came in the UFC, Rousey accumulated a 12-2 overall record (3-2 TKO, 9-0 SUB). She lost her final two title fights to Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm, but Rousey had already become one of the greatest female MMA fighters ever. She won all of her fights during her Strikeforce, Hard Knocks Fighting, and King of the Cage events.

Gina Carano age

Gina Carano, born on April 16, 1982, will be 44 years old by fight night after celebrating her birthday in April.

While Carano retired prior to the UFC’s emergence as a top fighting championship for women, she tallied a 7-1 career record in MMA (3-1 TKO, 1-0 SUB). She fought in Strikeforce, EliteXC, World Pro Fighting Championships, and World Extreme Fighting events.

When was Ronda Rousey’s last fight?

Rousey’s last fight came on December 30, 2016. She fought at UFC 207 in the headliner against Amanda Nunes.

Nunes entered the fight as the reigning bantamweight champion and made quick work of Rousey in the first round. It took Nunes only 48 seconds to retain her bantamweight belt and end Rousey’s hopes of winning her first title in over a year. Nunes landed 27 of 47 strikes thrown, while Rousey connected on seven of 14.

You can watch the full fight here on UFC’s YouTube channel.

When was Gina Carano’s last fight?

Carano’s most recent MMA fight was on August 15, 2009, as the headline fight for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. She fought against Cris Cyborg, who just fought last year in the Professional Fighters League.

The bout ended in a slightly controversial fashion after the end-of-the-round bell stoppage. Carano fell to the floor and was receiving a beatdown from Cyborg, and the referee felt like it couldn’t go on any longer. The announcers were a bit confused as they didn’t know which came first, the bell or the stoppage.

You can watch the full fight here on YouTube.

Why did Ronda Rousey retire?

Rousey retired in 2016 after back-to-back losses to Nunes and Holm. According to Rousey, her retirement came at the foot of multiple concussions that forced her to exit the sport.

“I’d like people to understand my reasons and motivations behind things,” Rousey said, according to ESPN. “I was forced to leave fighting when I was faster, stronger, more skilled and had a better understanding of the art than ever before. It was a really hard decision to understand, one that my body made for me.”

After her UFC career ended, Rousey joined the WWE and participated in matches with the organization. She had made previous appearances in 2014, but was signed full-time in 2017 after her departure from the UFC. She quietly left the organization in 2023, citing the same reason as sunset for her UFC career.

“Same thing with WWE,” Rousey said, according to CBS Sports. “They have a complicated history with their performers getting concussions, and it would be a bad look on them. So I felt like I really couldn’t talk about it at all. So I feel like this [is the] long form that I would be able to adequately address it.”

Ronda Rousey MMA comeback

After just under 10 calendar years, Rousey will be back in an MMA octagon. This is her first fight since Nunes TKO’d her in December 2016.

Rousey and Carano will face off on May 16, 2026, after the main card kicks off at 9 p.m. ET. The fight will be streamed on Netflix for those who have a subscription to the streaming service.

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