Report: Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano to be extensively tested pre-fight
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When Ronda Rousey talked openly about a history of hiding concussions, she likely didn't know all the ways it might come back around.
Several years later, Rousey will apparently be subjected to more testing than the average fighter ahead of her MMA return against Gina Carano in May. The featherweight fight, put together by Jake Paul's MVP Promotions for Netflix, takes place May 16 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., just outside Los Angeles.
Andy Foster, director of the California State Athletic Commission that will oversee the fight, told ESPN both fighters will go through extensive tests beforehand.
"We're going to put her through neurological and concussion battery testing and make sure she's OK," Foster told ESPN. "We're going to have our doctors take a look. The fighters are going to have to do a lot of medicals, both of them."
Rousey (12-2) just turned 39. Other than her stint in the WWE, Rousey has not competed in nearly a decade. The former UFC women's bantamweight champion, who broke through the proverbial glass ceiling to bring female fighters into the promotion, lost her title to Holly Holm in November 2015. She returned 13 months later to challenge new champ Amanda Nunes, but was knocked out in 48 seconds. She left MMA after that.
Carano (7-1) will be 44 at fight time and hasn't fought since 2009. Both those factors open her up for the additional testing, like Foster said is planned for Rousey. In August 2009, she lost to Cris Cyborg for the inaugural Strikeforce women’s featherweight title in what was the first major MMA event headlined by a women’s bout. The TKO loss remains Carano’s only professional defeat.
After that, Carano turned to acting and has starred in such films as "Haywire" (2011), "Fast and Furious 6" (2013), "Deadpool" (2016) and a Daily Wire-produced film "Terror on the Prairie," which also starred UFC veteran Donald Cerrone. Carano had a starring role on the popular Disney+ series "The Mandalorian" but was fired in February 2021 after she likened Republicans to victims of the Holocaust.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Report: Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano to be extensively tested pre-fight
