Ronda Rousey stopped Gina Carano along with her signature armbar simply 17 seconds into the long-lasting fighters’ combined martial arts comeback bout on Saturday night time.
The 39-year-old Rousey ended a nine-and-a-half yr absence from MMA when she took the cage with the 44-year-old Carano, who hadn’t fought in 17 years.
Rousey (13-2) wasted no time when the door lastly closed, charging and tackling Carano an on the spot after the opening bell rang.
Rousey shortly moved into place and utilized her well-known ending transfer, wrenching Carano’s arm because the combat was stopped.
“I really didn’t want to hurt her,” Rousey mentioned. “Luckily it was just beautiful martial arts, that’s what it is.”
Rousey famously gained eight fights in lower than a minute throughout her meteoric rise by way of MMA within the 2010s. When requested if she thought-about ready a bit longer to go for the end in a combat so a few years within the making, Rousey laughed.
“Hell no,” she mentioned. “My husband and my kids are watching me. I don’t want to put them through anything more than I have to.”
Carano was all smiles even after the swift finish to one of many longest layoffs in professional sports activities historical past. Rousey and Carano hugged and shared heat phrases after the end.
“I felt so ready,” Carano mentioned. “I’ve never felt that good. But I haven’t been here for 17 years … and I wanted to hit her.”
This inconceivable double comeback bout united two of a very powerful fighters from MMA’s previous twenty years.
Rousey grew to become one of many world’s most well-known athletes as she gained the primary ladies’s title within the UFC, which solely started to advertise ladies’s MMA due to Rousey’s plain expertise and star energy.
Rousey first grew to become eager about MMA due to Carano, whose athleticism and star energy made her right into a tv headliner when the game was nonetheless preventing for legitimacy and acceptance within the late 2000s.
Carano was comfortable to lastly settle for the comeback she had sometimes thought-about, saying she used her preparations as a option to overcome a number of well being issues from current years.
Rousey has repeatedly mentioned this might be her ultimate combat, whereas Carano has mentioned she would not know what the longer term holds.
