Home Women Invicta Gina Carano Needs To Get In Line: Three Fighters Who Actually Deserve…

Gina Carano Needs To Get In Line: Three Fighters Who Actually Deserve A Shot At Ronda Rousey’s UFC Championship

3133
Let’s give credit to Ronda Rousey. She finally knows how to promote a fight. The female Mike Tyson said in a recent interview that Gina Carano would be “the hardest competitor I could ever find to fight.” Really? Are we really supposed to believe that? Rousey definitely is trying to hype a fight that would do big numbers on PPV. But let’s get real. If Rousey can destroy the women’s top fighters in typically under one round, she won’t have any problem disposing Carano. Carano has not fought in FIVE years. That’s a long time to have not competed, but in fight years that’s an eternity. If Carano could come back and defeat Rousey, what would that say about the UFC women’s bantamweight champ? That’s why it would never happen. While Carano would certainly last longer than 16 seconds, she won’t last much longer because even in her prime she would have a tough time contending with the fierce Rousey.  Carano could not even get out of the first round against Cris Cyborg in 2009. Rousey clearly just wants to promote a fight among two big names. If she really wants to fight the best competition, however, here are three women who deserve title shots before Carano:
(Photo Courtesy via msn.foxsports.com)
(Photo Courtesy via msn.foxsports.com)
3. Cris Cyborg Before Rousey steps inside the cage to fight Carano, she needs to fight Cyborg. Rousey can come up with plenty of excuses for resisting a Cyborg fight: Cyborg has tested positive for steroids, she’s 10 pounds heavier and she doesn’t even fight in the UFC. But if Rousey really wants to cement her legacy she needs to fight Cyborg and submit or knock her out. There should be no excuses. Cyborg is a legitimate threat to Rousey, but Rousey may have what it takes to stop the human wrecking machine. We need to see the fight to know for sure.
Photo courtesy mmanuts.com
Photo courtesy mmanuts.com
2. Holly Holm Holm was the dominant professional boxer who moved to MMA and then was just signed by the UFC earlier this year. Holm is a decorated boxing champion. She won multiple world titles in boxing before moving to MMA. As a boxer she is 32-2. As a mixed martial artist she is 7-0. Holm was a great boxer, considered one of the best female fighters of all time, but it’s hard to know how she would do against Rousey. Holm’s stiffest MMA competition so far was against veteran Jan Finney, whom she knocked out in the third round of her second MMA fight. Holm may have the boxing skills to take out Rousey, but likely doesn’t have the defensive ability to stop Rousey’s judo. Still, Holm actually fights and has fought recently. She deserves a shot at the bantamweight title long before Carano.
Photo via UFC.com / Getty Images
Photo via UFC.com / Getty Images
1. Cat Zingano
Let’s remember that Zingano was the No. 1 contender before she blew out her knee. She was supposed to host The Ultimate Fighter against Rousey but the injury knocked her out. Zingano KO’d Miesha Tate and was on track to fight Rousey before her injury. Of all the possible fighters, Zingano probably has the best shot at upsetting Rousey. Zingano may be stronger than Rousey. She hits hard. She has strong defensive skills. She’s hungry. She’s undefeated. Zingano might possibly be the most complete women’s fighter in MMA. She would give Rousey a fight, far more than Carano would. If the First Lady of women’s MMA wants it so bad, she needs at least one fight before being gifted a title shot.