INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The atmosphere inside Inglewood’s Intuit Dome felt far more cinematic than the recent bore that was the NBA All-Star Weekend … even long before Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano appeared to fight Saturday night.
Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions turned the arena into a full-blown Netflix spectacle packed with celebrities, influencers, former fighters and longtime fans who grew up watching MMA greats like Rousey, Carano, Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou.
For the main event, as it turned out, Rousey needed only 17 seconds to end Carano’s dream comeback.
The night itself was full of chaos before the main event ever arrived.
RONDA ROUSEY RETURNING TO FIGHTING AFTER NEARLY 10-YEAR HIATUS: ‘THIS IS FOR ALL MMA FANS’
Cuban heavyweight Robelis Despaigne flattened former UFC champion Junior dos Santos with a brutal first-round knockout.
Francis Ngannou sent the crowd into a frenzy after starching Philipe Lins with a terrifying counter left hand before circling the cage and screaming toward Jon Jones at cageside.
Then came Mike Perry and Nate Diaz, which was a bloody disaster that everybody expected.
Diaz’s face was split open by the end of the second round, the canvas looked like a crime scene and Perry stormed around the cage afterward, demanding a fight with Paul while fans stood on chairs trying to film the madness below them.
The entire night still revolved around nostalgia and the return of Ronda Rousey. And when the lights dimmed for the main event and “Bad Reputation” played above the fans, Intuit Dome erupted.
Across the cage stood MMA pioneer Gina Carano, the original mainstream face of women’s MMA and the opponent fans spent years fantasy-booking against Rousey during the peak of both careers.
RONDA ROUSEY MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT AEW REVOLUTION
Saturday night, the fight between these two somehow became reality … it was pretty surreal.
Then it was over almost instantly.
The second the fight began, Rousey exploded forward, secured a clinch, executed a textbook judo takedown, and immediately transitioned into her trademark armbar before Carano could settle into the fight.
UFC FIGHTER ALEXA GRASSO DELIVERS VICIOUS KO TO MAYCEE BARBER
Tap … just 17 seconds to secure the win. It was traditional Rousey on display.
For a split second, the crowd almost seemed stunned by how fast it happened.
From where we at OutKick stood cageside — by media members and LA mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt — everyone looked stunned while Rousey stood in the middle of the cage victorious.
It was like stepping into a time machine.
For one final moment, Ronda Rousey looked exactly like the unstoppable force who once carried the UFC into the mainstream and changed women’s MMA forever.
And maybe that was the perfect ending.
“I feel great,” Carano said after losing to Rousey.
“I wanted to fight, and I didn’t get that. But she trained. She had her gameplan. I have so much love and respect for her, and this was a victory in my life. She changed it. I woke up at 3 a.m. every morning thinking about her. I took 100 pounds off my body, which is going to give me a longer life.
“I fell back in love with mixed martial arts. There’s so many things to think about here. It’s just (that) the fight didn’t go my way.”
JAPANESE PRO WRESTLING STAR MIYU YAMASHITA GEARS UP FOR LAS VEGAS RETURN AT SLAM FEST
After the fight, Rousey quickly shut down any talk about a permanent comeback. Smiling with a microphone in hand, she told the roaring crowd this was a one-time return before heading back into retirement and family life.
She doesn’t want more fights … she wants more babies!
“There’s no way I could’ve ended it better than this,” Rousey said after the win. “I want to have some more babies and I’ve got to get cooking.”
If this truly was Ronda Rousey’s final fight, it is hard to imagine a better way for her story to end.
Send us your thoughts: [email protected] / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
Read the full article here
