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Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:02 pm EST

UFC's White is ready to bring Carano into the fold

By Steve Cofield

In a sudden change of heart, UFC president Dana White said that he's willing to promote women's fighting. Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press reported that White told fans during a Q & A session in Toronto that he is interested female fighter Gina Carano. White said that he would welcome Carano (pictured on the right) to fight under Zuffa's World Extreme Cagefighting banner: 

"Gina Carano is a star, I think she's talented. I think she's got all the tools, so what I'm willing to do is bring Gina into the WEC. We could do fights whenever there's a challenger for Gina. That's how I'll test the waters and see how it goes."

In the past, White has consistently said that he wasn't interested in promoting female MMA:

"I'm not a huge fan of women fighting. Period. Not to say that I don't acknowledge that there are amazing female athletes out there in every sport. I just think right now we had a hard enough time getting over the stigma of the men"

This could be a huge boost for Carano and the WEC. She gets to continue fighting on free television on Versus and the WEC could see a nice ratings boost.

Carano's previous promoter, EliteXC went out of business three weeks ago. Unless there's some unforeseen legal hurdles, Carano is a free agent. On CBS, she was a ratings monsters drawing a combined 10 million-plus viewers in two fights against Kaitlin Young and Kelly Kobold that ranked amongst the top 10 highest viewed fights in mixed martial arts history.

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229 Comments

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  1. Ican2
    1. Posted by Ican2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    I can buy that..But wouldn't i be HOt To Have thong matches once in awhile...watch Gina's Girl man get all pissed that dude's are checking her out HAHA where are you dude??
  2. mmagrrl
    2. Posted by mmagrrl Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:04 pm EDT

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    i knew Dana would eventually see the light...
  3. yep thats me
    3. Posted by yep thats me Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:26 pm EDT

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    thats not a bad idea Ican2.
  4. Nutcracker
    4. Posted by Nutcracker Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:22 pm EDT

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    shes' a bush bumper.. Sorry fellas....
  5. o
    5. Posted by o Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:43 pm EDT

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    no..no..no....women and MMA is a bad idea....that does make the sport look barbaric...nobody wants to see women fighting MMA except for the same 20 people that comment here on the MMA blog...bad idea...thats why dana was reluctant at first...someone must have dared him to do it or something
  6. Karl A
    6. Posted by Karl A Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:47 pm EDT

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    It's about time.
  7. Crime
    7. Posted by Crime Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:48 pm EDT

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    Cant wait to see these babes rip each others clothes off and expose those big thick bubbles!!!!
    Nice job Mr white !!!!
  8. Ken Wilder
    8. Posted by Ken Wilder Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:50 pm EDT

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    WEC would be a good place for her, I just don't want to see her or women muck up the UFC cards.
  9. mmagurl
    9. Posted by mmagurl Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:40 pm EDT

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    I think the UFC is a tournament for men.. in WEC, I guess it's ok for Carano to fight, but I really hope she get to meet Cyborg in there. She needs a challenge, and in women's MMA, only Cyborg possesses the skill to give her that.
    Thought I'm a woman, and I practice MMA.. I think it's also kinda brutal to see those angelic faces get beat up, receive knee blows and elbows. Too fragile..
  10. BroMan
    10. Posted by BroMan Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:00 pm EDT

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    Good idea since WEC is merging two of their weight classes with the UFC, so this would free up time on a fight card for female bouts. This could be good.
  11. volleysoftball17
    11. Posted by volleysoftball17 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:38 pm EDT

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    HELL yeah.. i love Gina Carano.. She is the best female MMA fighter in my eyes.. She would be a huge asset to the program.. I would lvoe to see Gina Fight more on Telivision. And let alone she inspires me to become a female MMA fighter.. I am glad Dana White has opened up to Female fighters and is thinking about signing Gina because Women should be able to fight jsut like men.. Women are jsut as tough as men are so i dont see what the big deal was.. And signing her this will get more Females to want to become cage fighters and will boost the WEC..
  12. kcmo
    12. Posted by kcmo Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:14 pm EDT

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    ive been saying this all along
  13. Capt.Billy
    13. Posted by Capt.Billy Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:28 pm EDT

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    Dudes, talent is talent.. Let the best of the best fight whether mlae or female.. If you love the fight game you know what I'm talkin about. These ladies could mop the floor w/ most of you's posting so give it a rest! In the early days of mma it was style v style not even called mma- go back to ufc 1-10. they had guys comin to the cage w' freakin props ala wwf(at the time). Now its all Jeet Kun Do(sp) look it up, get the win.. There is awesome talent wearin inverted cups so I say let them fight & quit hiding behind the past Dana....There is a hugh market for this soo get over it!!
  14. David
    14. Posted by David Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:37 pm EDT

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    Well, this is for anyone interested in MMA, not sexual preferences. Women practice martial arts and in some ways excel.
    Women learn martial arts for protection, as well as discipline and are often more inclined to learn.
    WNBA, women's hockey, football and boxing, in my humble opinion, is a waste of time. Having trained in martial arts and sparring with women, I look forward to this level of competition in the UFC.
    As for Gina; I don't think she has the right mind set for the business. With all the bad mouthing she has done in the past, being upset about people seeing her as a female MMA icon, I think Dana and the UFC need to scout better competitors.
    Maybe they can have UFFC "Ultimate Female Fighting Championship" and have them compete for contracts on Spike.
  15. anthony
    15. Posted by anthony Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:51 pm EDT

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    wow that would be awsome to have her in UFC, I don't think it would be a risk to have her she is an amazing fighter and I look forward to seeing her fight again. So please take a chance with you wont go wrong
  16. brainrainpain
    16. Posted by brainrainpain Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:42 pm EDT

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    ahhh... gina carano. and now the fap begins.. lol..
  17. Wes K
    17. Posted by Wes K Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:52 pm EDT

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    i like the UFC i think women should fight in the ufc
  18. GirlFighter
    18. Posted by GirlFighter Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:17 pm EDT

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    It's about time. We work as hard as guys, we deserve a spot!
  19. volleysoftball17
    19. Posted by volleysoftball17 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:38 pm EDT

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    Hel yeah.. its about time.. I ama huge fan of Gina Carano.. She inspires me so much that ever since i started watching Cage fighting i have wanted to become a cage fighter and now being able ot see Gina fight it makes me want to become one even more and really makes me want to start taking lessons... i think it is a great opertunity for Dana White to make MMA fighting even better by bringing in women into the WEC.. It will attract women to watching the show and will help promote for more women to become MMA Cage fighter so there is more challenges for fighter to fight more people.. and i am kinda sick of watching some of the guys fight because they can be boring.. adn everytime i have Watched Gina fight it is jsut so entertaining and so inspirting...
  20. brainrainpain
    20. Posted by brainrainpain Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:42 pm EDT

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    gina carano is awesome!
  21. PnkSweetie994
    21. Posted by PnkSweetie994 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:22 pm EDT

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    Nut Cracker said she was a Bush Bumper...LOL thats funny
  22. Cory
    22. Posted by Cory Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

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    lesbian or not she is still a fine female
  23. freekill
    23. Posted by freekill Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:03 pm EDT

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    dana is all about business..example brock vs randy.
    gina is a big draw. so why wouldn't dana jump on it? doesn't take a lot of brain on dana's part to sign the biggest female star to jump start what guys like...beauty and violence. ^_^
  24. Da Critic
    24. Posted by Da Critic Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:58 pm EDT

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    I think that "most men" are going to get it twisted as far as a sexual nature in women fighting. i adore women athletes, but think women in the UFC is a hard thing to watch. I Luv seeing men bash eachothers faces in, but women their hair get's all matted and they have boobs and crotches to watch out for and they look HIDEOUS when they fight! let's work on keeping mn-men and women-women!
  25. Cynic
    25. Posted by Cynic Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:23 pm EDT

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    Hey o...you didn't read the article, did you? You claim that "nobody wants to see women fighting MMA except for the same 20 people that comment here on the MMA blog", yet "she was a ratings monsters drawing a combined 10 million-plus viewers in two fights against Kaitlin Young and Kelly Kobold that ranked amongst the top 10 highest viewed fights in mixed martial arts history. "
    So explain to me how the 20 people on this blog turned into 10 million-plus viewers...it will be interesting to see the math behind that.

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