‘All my men were weaker than me’. Gina Carano quit MMA to become a movie star

Gina Carano is one of the most popular actresses of recent years. She managed to star in the incredibly successful series “Mandalorean”, played in “Deadpool”, “Fast and Furious”, shared the set with Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis. Many directors want to work with her and do not hesitate to admit it.

Before that, the girl had a successful career in MMA, where Carano stood at the origin of the development of female martial arts. She was supposed to fight Ronda Rousey, and that fight could have been the female counterpart to the fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nuramagomedov or Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Manny Pacquiao. But few people know how it all started and the difficulties Gina had to face to become a global star.

“Fat Gina.”

Carano was born in Texas, where her childhood was spent. She grew up a big girl, but in Texas this is not surprising, and everyone treated her normally. Then Gina’s family moved to Los Angeles – the world of Hollywood, where others often judge by appearance. It’s a place where for every extra pound you can get a ton of humiliation. And Gina had a lot of those pounds back then. In school, she was called a fatty and sometimes did what is now called the fashionable word “bullying”.

That’s when Carano began to develop a tough character, inherited largely from her father – a professional player in American soccer. He brought her to basketball, where Gina could vent all the aggression and emotions for humiliation on the school bench. And it worked out just fine. Carano helped the team to a state championship and got a scholarship to the University of Nevada.

Just wanted to lose some weight

Everything seemed to be going great. Gina enrolled in a psychology program and played sports. But for some reason, the extra weight did not go anywhere. In the end, Carano decided to try herself in Thai boxing. It was the idea of her boyfriend Kevin Ross, with whom they later broke up. But the love for martial arts remained.

Gina found a great trainer – a four-time world champion in kickboxing. She respected him immensely, so when he told her that she was fat, Carano turned inside out to lose weight. It was the start of a great career.

She took off her clothes to make the weigh-in

Gina fought 14 fights at the semi-amateur level, winning 12 out of 14. She then received an offer to compete in the first official female mixed martial arts fight. Carano knocked out her opponent in 38 seconds. Gina continued to win at similar tournaments, but became world famous in October 2008 before the fight with Kelly Kobold, which was broadcasted on the national channel in America.

The girl did not pass the weigh-in procedure before the bout. Although the overweight was not huge – only 1.3 kg. Many would have accepted it, turned around and walked away. But not her. Carano first took off her sports bra, but still didn’t fit the weight. She had to undress completely, and then the scales showed a permissible excess of 0.5 kg. Needless to say, Gina won the fight after that?

A life-changing defeat

Carano became essentially the only real MMA star in those days. Promotional offers were pouring in one after another, she starred in various TV shows and was already starting her career in movies. However, to withstand such a crazy schedule was difficult even for a girl like Gina Carano.

In 2009, she was waiting for a fight with Brazilian Cristiana Santos, nicknamed Cyborg. It was the main event of the biggest MMA tournament, about 15 thousand spectators gathered at the arena, and millions more watched at the TV screens. Gina lost, and almost without a chance. But it was this fiasco gave her the understanding that it is necessary to focus on one thing – show business or sports.

Gina Carano in the movies

Carano chose the movie. The first big role Gina got in the action movie “Knockout”, where her partner was Channing Tatum – a favorite of American girls. In this movie they even had explicit scenes, about which Gina then recalled with embarrassment. “Knockout” received good reviews from movie critics and became a breakthrough for Carano. Then there were roles in “Fast and Furious”, “Deadpool” and, of course, the series “Mandalorean” on the universe of Star Wars.

Personal life of Carano

During this time, Gina managed to become her own in the Hollywood party. She had affairs with actors Keith Cope and Henry Cavill (star of Man of Steel). Carano was once asked if it was important to her that men were physically stronger than her.

All my men have been weaker than me. It didn’t bother me in principle, though. Besides, I like men who are about the same height as me. I like artistic, skinny young men. Sometimes I look at a tall guy and I don’t know what to do with him.

You can’t argue with that. Athletic girls, and especially girls like Gina Carano, sometimes find it difficult to find a man to match themselves.