Gina Carano Contract: Dana White Is ‘Very Positive’ Things Will Work Out
It was two weeks ago when The Inquisitr reported that Gina Carano would return to the UFC, and there was the possibility of a “dream match” against her and Ronda Rousey. But before that can happen, UFC president Dana White has to work out the contract for Carano. And that hasn’t been going as well as he had planned.
According to a report from ESPN, White said that contract negotiations for Gina Carano have been “complicated.”
“I’m very positive about it, but it’s complicated,” he added. “I’m still working on it. That’s all I can say.”
Gina Carano’s last bout was a TKO loss against Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino in August 2009, which was the first female match to headline a major MMA event. Carano has since gone on to acting, starring in Haywire, Fast & Furious 6, and In the Blood. She is scheduled to begin production on the Justin Steele-directed feature The Opium War at the end of the summer.
UFC fans expected Gina Carano to already be signed, since White announced that he was going to have her contract figured out this week. MMAjunkie reports that the UFC president also said Carano and Rousey would compete in a title match on December 6 in Las Vegas. At that same time, he mentioned he was looking forward to meeting with Carano’s lawyer about the contract.
“I can’t wait to meet this guy face to face,” he said. “It’s going to be a typical Monday. S****y day.”
When asked about his hopes now for Gina Carano to still be available on December 6, White simply responded, “I don’t know.”
White has defended the idea of giving Gina Carano a title match after a five-year hiatus from fighting. He based his decision on how well she has trained during the hiatus and her desire to take on Rousey. He also based it on Carano’s last fight. Even though it was a first round TKO loss, White approved of Carano’s performance.
“‘Cyborg’ was a little jacked up on Mountain Dew in that fight,” he added.
During an interview with reporters in June, via MMA Fighting, Rousey revealed that the first MMA women’s match she saw was Gina Carano and Julie Kedzie. And it was since then that she has also dreamed of getting in the ring with Carano.
“Not only did I admire what [Carano] was doing, but also I was blown away by the reaction all the guys were giving them, and, I just remember sitting there and thinking, ‘I could totally beat both of these chicks,'” Rousey said.
[Image via Sherdog]
