EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsIf you find yourself being entertained by a ferocious fight between two women inside an MMA cage, you can thank two different women who have not been inside an MMA cage for a decade or more.Ronda Rousey was singularly responsible for women fighting in the UFC. Gina Carano was largely responsible for women's MMA being seen in the first place.For those reasons, when Rousey and Carano return from long retirements to fight each other on May 16 in Inglewood, California, it will be an event of historic proportions. That is not to say it will be a good fight. Rousey is 39 years old and hasn't competed since 2016. Carano, who will be 44 on fight night, will be stepping inside a cage for the first time since 2009.Once upon a time, Rousey vs. Carano would have been a collision of the women's MMA elite. That is not the case in 2026, not even close. What we have here is a spectacle -- a sign of the times in combat sports.Back when Rousey was the biggest star in the MMA, she achieved that stardom -- and the lucrative earnings that came with it -- by being the most dominant fighter in the sport, man or woman. In 2011, the same year that CEO Dana White said women would "never" fight in the UFC, "Rowdy Ronda" made her pro debut and launched a run of 12 consecutive finishes, all but one in the first round. Eight opponents didn't last a minute. While turning White into a believer, Rousey developed the appeal of prime Mike Tyson, except in her case, fans tuned in to see not a quick knockout but a swift armbar.Yet there might never have been a Rousey if there wasn't a Carano, the trailblazer. Though she was not the first woman to compete in MMA -- there are documented women's bouts in North America going back to the 1990s -- Carano was part of the first women's bout in a major promotion, Strikeforce, in 2006. A year later, she fought on Showtime in the first televised women's fight. And in 2009, Carano vs. Cris Cyborg was a Strikeforce main event, headlining over four men who went on to become champions in Strikeforce, Bellator or the UFC.The combat sports world has changed dramatically in the nearly two decades since that August 2009 bout that turned out to be Carano's retirement fight. Fighters no longer make a name for themselves solely with their combat skills. Many of the top MMA stars of today supercharge their careers with feisty words, outrageous antics and gimmicky matchups. Even those who've long retired can earn a hefty check by returning to entertain the masses in a fisticuffs show resembling a circus as much as a competition.In the nearly 10 years since Rousey last put on the gloves, we've seen MMA stars cross over to boxing for unprecedented paydays, sparked by Conor McGregor and an out-of-retirement Floyd Mayweather Jr. making a fortune by sharing a dance in 2017. Social media visionary Jake Paul, whose Most Valuable Promotions will promote Rousey vs. Carano, made a cottage industry out of beating up MMA fighters who were fish out of water in a boxing ring. In 2024, Paul stepped into the ring with 58-year-old Tyson, who, despite once being the baddest man on the planet, looked just bad, man.When each of the aforementioned bouts was announced, the first question was always "Why?" Now we have Rousey vs. Carano, and my reaction is "Why not?"Well, Rousey has given us one reason why not. Two years ago, while promoting the publication of her memoir, "Our Fight," she revealed a history of concussions, dating back to her time in judo, the sport in which she won a 2008 Olympic bronze medal. She had kept the head trauma a secret from the UFC and regulators, she said, "because it would literally put a target on my head and I might not have been allowed to compete any farther."ESPN reached out to California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster on Tuesday to inquire about additional testing the regulators might require of Rousey, but did not immediately hear back. Rousey appeared on "SportsCenter" on Tuesday and spoke of needing more recovery time after training sessions now compared to her years in the UFC, but she did not mention her concussion history.If there's a silver lining to this spectacle, Rousey and Carano will at least be competing in their own sport. There were recent reports that Rousey was angling to box two-division champion Katie Taylor, and no one really needed to see that to know how it would have turned out. This MMA bout does have a modicum of intrigue, if only to see what each woman has left after so many years out of the cage. Can Carano still throw hands well enough to present a threat that keeps the fight standing, or will Rousey swiftly shoot a takedown and armbar Carano without breaking a sweat?But competitiveness is not the point of this event. This is an opportunity for two pioneers of women's MMA to have a night in the spotlight they created. And presumably, a substantial purse will be involved.Fighters don't get a pension. Some prepare for a future outside the cage or ring, and some leave the sport penniless.Carano did create a Hollywood future for herself. In the 17 years since she retired from MMA, she has appeared in more than a dozen films, including the sixth installment in the "Fast & Furious" franchise. Rousey has had parts in movies and TV, too, but her main stage has been WWE. She activated her retirement plan even before she left MMA, making a guest appearance at WrestleMania in 2014 while still UFC women's bantamweight champion.Speaking of the leading promotion in MMA, Rousey said on "SportsCenter" that she gauged the interest of White and "it didn't exactly work out with the UFC." That adds a layer of intrigue. White has predicted that the UFC's event at the White House on June 14 will be "the most-watched UFC event ever." Considering that Rousey, the biggest star in UFC history not named McGregor, has 16.8 million Instagram followers and Carano has 1.8 million, might this spectacle outshine the UFC's date in the nation's capital?To say Rousey and Carano are not doing it for the money would be a hollow premise, of course, because this is prizefighting, where everything is for the money. But just by looking at the final notations on the two women's fight rsums, it's reasonable to conclude that money is not the sole motivation.Carano walked away in 2009 after being bludgeoned by Cyborg. Rousey absorbed a shocking upset knockout at the hands -- and shin -- of Holly Holm in front of 56,000 fans in a stadium in Australia in 2015, and after a year spent out of the public eye, she returned to face Amanda Nunes and was knocked out in 48 seconds. For both Rousey and Carano, this return represents an opportunity to change the final chapter of the story.Or will this fight lead to more chapters to come?
