This is an amazing weekend for women’s mixed martial arts.
Friday features the all-women Invicta FC 11, headlined by Cris Cyborg vs. Charmaine Tweet, and streams live on UFC Fight Pass. And Saturday is headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano, with Raquel Pennington vs. Holly Holm in the co main.
Ariel Helwani recently sent an appreciative tweet to the former face of WMMA Gina Carano.
“Wondering if a weekend like this is even possible w/o Gina Carano doing what she did a few years back (doubtful) & what she thinks of it all,” he wrote.
Carano’s reply was characteristically beautiful.
What I think
I think about all the times I was called a “pet project” and was laughed at and asked when I was doing to get a real job, but how I could care less because the passion I felt while I was training and fighting completely destroyed the negativity, disarmed it completely. I see all the people who said it would never be possible, how they’d never support women fighting in a cage and vowed never to watch, who are now the same people announcing these women’s fights with mind blown enthusiasm, doing their pad work, wrestling with them, being their training partners, and now huge fans and coaching these amazing athletes.
I see the same women who were bullied out of gyms for being female, still training, still fighting and still being as passionate as as they ever were, while working a few jobs and raising children. I see parents encouraging little girls to go learn a mixed martial art at a younger age, building confidence and equality in our children earlier. I see the woman who was abused/mistreated in her life, start training and watch the dark drift off her as her back straightens and she begins to breathe a little deeper and starts to understand what it means to live without being so afraid. And I see the good ol fashioned fight girl, who doesn’t need a rhyme or reason to enjoy her life of mixed martial arts and competition, all she needs is an outlet.
I smile so big it brings tears to my eyes because somehow I was blessed to be a small part of the evolution.
Most importantly, I’ve learned that one group’s fear is not match for one person’s passion.
Here you go Helwani. Thank you for always asking. It means a lot.
Looking forward to the fights this weekend. I hope for the safety and health of all fighters involved.
Rousey agrees, and said in a recent interview she does not believe she would be where she is had Gina Carano not paved the way.
And because so many proclaimed so clearly ‘WTF pics?’ …
If a picture is worth 1,000 words. A gif has to be worth like 10,000. And that gif … priceless.
