Gina Carano

Report: Carano to Star in Steven Soderbergh-Directed “Knockout”

Female MMA star Gina Carano has reportedly been tapped for the lead role in a film titled “Knockout”, a Steven Soderbergh-directed movie that will likely begin production this coming January.

The news comes from Variety.com, which states that the film will center around Carano, who will play a “girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes.” Carano also has a part in Sony Pictures’ “Blood and Bone”, which will be released on DVD next week.

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Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg Salaries

The California State Athletic Commission has released the official list of fighter salaries following Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg which took place on Saturday, August 15 at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos ($25,000) def. Gina Carano ($125,000)
Gegard Mousasi ($2,000) def. Renato “Babalu” Sobral ($75,000)
Gilbert Melendez ($50,000) def. Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000)
Fabricio Werdum ($50,000) def. Mike Kyle ($14,000)
Jay Hieron ($55,000) def. Jesse Taylor ($12,000)
Scott Lighty ($4,000) def. Mike Cook ($2,500)
Justin Wilcox ($5,000) def. David Douglas ($5,500)
James Terry ($6,000) def. Zak Bucia ($2,000)
Alex Trevino ($3,500) def. Isaiah Hill ($2,000)

Remember that this is only the base salary that a fighter received. Bonuses, deductions, and other undisclosed fees are not included.

Cyborg Stops Carano, Captures Women’s 145-Pound Title

In the biggest bout in female mixed martial arts history, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos stopped Gina Carano via TKO to become the Strikeforce women’s 145-pound champion.

From the opening bell, the fight had a feverish pace as Cyborg immediately came forward and put the pressure on Carano with a flurry of hard strikes against the cage. As Cyborg attempted an early takedown, fans saw Carano sweep Cyborg and gain the mount. Before Carano could put up any offense, Cyborg went for a quick heel hook but Carano calmly escaped.

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Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg Weigh-In Results

The fighters are currently hitting the scales in preparation for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. Be sure to check back often as we provide you with up to the minute weigh-in results.

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg will be headlined by a 145 lbs female title fight between Gina Carano and Cris “Cyborg” Santos. Also featured on the card will be an interim lightweight title bout between Gilbert Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida and a heavyweight title bout between Fabricio Werdum and Mike Kyle.

Main Card:

Gina Carano (143 lbs) vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (144.5 lbs)
Jay Hieron (169 lbs) vs. Jesse Taylor (172 lbs) *
Renato “Babalu” Sobral (201 lbs) vs. Gegard Mousasi (204 lbs)
Gilbert Melendez (155 lbs) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (155 lbs)
Mike Kyle (219 lbs) vs. Fabricio Werdum (228 lbs)

Preliminary Bouts:

Mike Cook (205 lbs) vs. Scott Lighty (202 lbs)
David Douglas (156 lbs) vs. Justin Wilcox (154 lbs)
Zak Bucia (170 lbs) vs. James Terry (169 lbs)
Isaiah Hill (156 lbs) vs. Alex Trevino (156 lbs)

* Taylor weighed in at 172 lbs and has two hours to weigh-in at the 171 lbs limit.

Carano Would Prefer Zuffa Over Strikeforce

Gina Carano isn’t officially set to return to action just yet. Despite Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker’s wishes, he has not yet been able to ink MMA’s biggest female star to a contract. What’s the hold up? Reported interest in Carano by Zuffa.

The UFC isn’t expected to promote any fights involving women anytime in the near future, but the possibility is real, and UFC President Dana White has said so. More feasible seems the option of the WEC adding a women’s division following the folding of it’s light heavyweight, middleweight, and welterweight divisions over the past six months.

So if the choice had to be made, where would Gina go? It seems she’s leaning towards Zuffa:

Let’s just say that you were a real free agent and not tied to any organization. Do you think you would have decided to sign with Zuffa instead of Strikeforce?

I think that I would probably pick Zuffa because that’s the big show, you know? To be a part of that would be amazing, but you know, here comes Strikeforce and they’ve got this CBS and Showtime deal and they are working their way up into being good competition. They have been respectful and haven’t tried to push it too far in terms of being competitors with the UFC. They’ve built their company on some good roots and now they are ready to branch out on Showtime and CBS. But as of right now, the UFC is the big show, and for a female, it would be an amazing opportunity.

Gina also mentions in the interview with Ariel that interest by White and company isn’t the only thing holding up talks with Strikeforce. Should she sign with the UFC or WEC, a potential court battle with Coker and Strikeforce could ensue due to her EliteXC contract being owned by them. On top of that, the chances of a long-awaited fight with Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos would continue to dwindle.

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Ortiz, “Babalu” Come Face-to-Face

The unspoken dislike between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and Renato “Babalu” Sobral may have been turned up a notch on Saturday night after the two exchanged words in the crowd during Strikeforce’s “Shamrock vs. Diaz” event in San Jose.

During an intermission before the televised portion of the card was to air on Showtime, Sobral approached Ortiz and the two began exchanging words, possibly concerning a proposed fight between the two that was once expected to take place under the Affliction banner last year but never came to fruition.

Once “Babalu” became visibly heated and didn’t seem to be content to leave Ortiz alone, fellow veteran fighter Joe Riggs came over and separated the two. Sherdog.com has a brief clip of the incident.

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Carano Signs with Round 5 to Create Figurine

MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA – Known to many as the “face of female mixed martial arts,” Gina “Conviction” Carano has parlayed great ability in the cage and a glamorous look out of it to burst onto the MMA scene and in many ways transcended the sport. Now, the unbeaten star has announced she will be working with Round 5, the leader in collectible MMA figurines, to produce a figure that reflects her stardom.  Carano joins an All-Star lineup of 13 MMA standouts who currently work with Round 5.
           
Carano, 26, gained notice for her success in the cage and has earned additional attention with appearances as “Crush“ on the NBC television series “American Gladiators“ and by serving as a mentor/coach on the Oxygen network series “Fight Girls.“ She is also in many ways a pioneer in women’s MMA, competing in the first-ever sanctioned bout in Nevada in September 2006 and in the first female bout (boxing or MMA) on the Showtime Network in February 2007.  She currently owns a 7-0 record in MMA competition.
“Gina Carano has emerged as a star, not just in MMA but in the mainstream,” said Damon Lau, Round 5 President.  “As the first female in the Round 5 line, we expect her figurine to be popular among the sport’s enthusiasts as well as those who have seen her on TV or in magazines.”

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Strikeforce Acquires ProElite Assets; Lands Deal With Showtime

It’s been a busy past few weeks for Scott Coker and his fledgling Strikeforce brand. Once thought to have been just a small success story in the San Jose area, the promotion seems to be on the fast track to becoming the legitimate number-two MMA organization in North America after securing a deal to purchase a limited number of assets from ProElite, the parent company of EliteXC.

Under the terms of the deal announced this afternoon, Strikeforce will acquire a select number of fighters contracts, along with the ability to sign additional fighters to Strikeforce deals, as well as a video library of past EliteXC and ShoXC events.

“This is a tremendous development that will bolster the Strikeforce roster and allow us to produce even more competitive matchups between top fighters,” Coker said in a press release today. “Some of these athletes have been on the sidelines for a while now and are eagerly waiting to return to competition. We look forward to providing them with the opportunity to do so in the next few months.”

 

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MMA Live Episode 23

From ESPN, here’s this week’s installment of MMA Live with Jon Anik, Kenny Florian, Franklin McNeil, and special guest Gina Carano.

EliteXC Oct 4, 2008 Results

Can’t really call it Kimbo-Shamrock if that didn’t happen, can we?  After some technical difficulties preventing live blogging, it’s time to post the results.

For those unaware: Ken Shamrock was not able to get doctor’s clearance for the fight.  Seth Petruzelli (TUF 2) took his place to fight Kimbo Slice.

Results:

Seth Petruzelli def. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson - TKO (Strikes)
Jake Shields def. Paul Daley - Submission (Armbar)
Andrei Arlovski def. Roy Nelson - KO
Gina Carano def. Kelly Kobold - Unanimous Decision
Benji Radach def. Murilo “Ninja” Rua - TKO (Strikes)
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos def. Yoko Takahashi - Unanimous Decision
Connor Heun def. Edson Berto - TKO (Strikes)
Mikey Gomez def. Lorenzo Borgomeo - Submission (Armbar)
Bryan Hamade def. David Gomez - Submission (Guillotine)
Nicolae Cury def. Jorge Bouchat - Submission (Reverse Triangle)

Yup, you read that right, Kimbo was TKO’d.  Not only that, but he was TKO’d in 14 seconds.  Shocker?  A little, but not completely, despite the popularity difference.

EliteXC announced a sellout, and ratings may have been good for the event, but with Kimbo dispatched so quickly, EliteXC’s possible success tonight will be overshadowed by their biggest draw falling so fast.