Former Strikeforce champion Gina Carano has been on hiatus since her 2009 loss to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino. She chose to leave MMA to pursue a career in acting, but recently revealed that she would be “very open” to making a return.
Earlier this month, there was speculation that Carano was next in line to take a shot at the current Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantam weight champion Ronda Rousey. However, Dana White confirmed that no one was currently scheduled to fight Rousey, but he would gladly welcome Carano into the UFC.
“When you go on a hiatus, whether you’re injured or semi-retired, you’re still under contract,” White explained. “If you come back, you’re still under contract with us. So she is under contract with us, but I have no plans right now.”
During a recent interview with Damon Martin, Carano addressed the rumors, and said that she “never retired,” and would return if the circumstances were right.
“I’ve never retired. I’ve never officially said that,” Carano said. “For some reason a part of me has always kept it open. I don’t know, there’s a certain part of me that thinks if circumstances were right, and I could keep doing what I’m trying to make my future into, that’s an ideal world. If circumstances were right, you never know. I’m very open to it.”
Carano was careful not to reveal too much information, and basically left it at the circumstances having to be just right. “I feel like I can’t say too much. I’ve got all this information that if I could just speak freely, this is actually what’s going on,” Carano continued. “I wish I could open up my mind and tell you exactly the things that I’ve seen and the conversations that I’ve had, but I think to sum it up in a nice, safe way for me is if circumstances were right, and if it’s a good enough circumstance I would come back because my first love is MMA.”
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