Ready or not, here it comes. Thanks to Elite XC, on May 31st, Gina Carano will face off with Kaitlin Young in a televised bout.
Yes, Gina Carano is on American Gladiators under the name "Crush". Before American Gladiators, Carano was a Muay Thai fighter, and a good one as well.
She now trains with Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. If there ever was a good canidate for female MMA spokeswoman, Carano would be it. Intelligent, articulate, down to earth, and not too hard on the eyes. Okay, so she is super hot, we all know it.
Carano's opponent will be Minnesota native Kaitlin Young. Young also has an extensive background in Muay Thai.
She is currently training with Greg Nelson at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. Nelson's camp has turned out a slew of great MMA fighters.
The stylistic matchup between these two is simple. My Muay Thai is better than yours. If this fight goes to the ground, it's because someone got hurt bad and hit the floor. So it's going to be a stand-up war with these two. Both fighters like to come forward and bang.
I don't know how the folks at home are going to react to these two woman kicking the crap out of each other. This fight has a high potential for cuts, blood, and overall unpleasantness. While the match will do wonders for the sport among current MMA fans, I don't know if it will win over the general population.
I remember the first female MMA fight I saw. It was at a local EFX show in Minnesota. I was talking to the promoter before the show started, and he told me whatever happens, don't miss the girl fight. He's a promoter, he has to say that, right?
The ref for the evening was local fighter Brock Larson. During the intermission before the female fight, we were talking and he told me the same thing, don't miss the next fight.
As I sat in my seat for the next eleven minutes, I was amazed. These two women came out and gave one of the best performances I have ever seen. They stood toe-to-toe the whole fight. One minute into the third round, a vicious right hand was landed, and it was all over. Both women left the cage bloody, bruised, and smiling. They lived the dream, fighting in front of their home crowd, the place going nuts as they slugged it out.
The moral of the story is, if it's a great fight, it doesn't matter who's in the cage.
As the Elite XC card gets closer, I wonder how the casual fan, and even someone who doesn't follow the sport, will perceive the bout between Carano and Young. I hope it is a huge success and brings much deserved attention to female MMA. Until then, we have to wait and see.
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2 months ago
Great article. I have to say that I am on the bubble when it comes to women's MMA. I really don't have anything against them fighting in kickboxing or western boxing, however, there is something about mixed martial arts that doesn't sit as well.
I have no doubt of the skill presented in female fighters (I have take a few shots to have the point driven home), however, I have always like to think that women had more sense than men. There are more sensible career paths than mixed martial arts and that it was largely due to societies view on how to raise male children that hand to hand combat exists on an entertainment level.
Having said that, I wish the two fighters the best of luck and totally agree with you in that the female fights that I have seen rank well above many UFC and WEC fights I have seen as of late.
2 months ago
There have been some great women fights in Bodog. Female fighters feel like they have a lot to prove, and want to show that they deserve to fight in the top promotions.
That's why many women fights are fast paced and exciting, because the fighters want to put on a show and look impressive. There is some female talent out there, and as the sport grows and becomes more profitable, we will see more female competitors who are not just great fighters, but superb athletes.
With more opportunities for women to fight and greater prize money, the better the chance of seeing talented women make their mark. In order for women's MMA to become successful, there needs to be a market and a chance to make enough of a profit so that the fighters can pursue MMA as a job.
The more female fighters there are who can fight full time, the better their matches will be, leading to more exposure, more fans, and more women who want to train and fight as well. One thing leads to the next and it all starts with televising female MMA live on network television.
2 months ago
has anyone here seen "Crush" fight? shes the real deal, her fights on Elite Extreme were highly entertaining. She issued out a three round beatdown in the first one and won by submission in the second. both were highly entertaining in my opinion. while i do not approve of womens mma in general, i love her fights. kinda like womens boxing and laila ali. I do not approve of womens boxing but I watched her beat down chicks like she was a man hitting women and it was strangely entertaining as well.
from 2 months ago
I've seen both woman fight, and have a friend who trains at the same camp as Kaitlin. If you haven't seen Kaitlin fight yet check her out. Her Muay Thai is absolutely sick. I'm stoked to see these two bang it out.
2 months ago
The one thing that worries me about Gina is that with all her American Gladiators commitments, she might not have as good of a training camp as she should have.
This is the one thing that EXC has that the UFC doesn't. Dana White won't have females fighting for the UFC, so if Carrano is as big of a star as I hope she is, this could be the feather in the cap for EXC.
2 months ago
I don't doubt Carano's skills, but I don't know if she should be the new face of women's MMA. Debi Purcell, Megumi Fujii, and others would be better IMO. Amanda Buckner is a great fighter, but she doesn't have the looks of Carano, so she doesn't get the spotlight. I question Gina's dedication to the sport, honestly. Many other female fighters have said that she doesn't really train unless she has a fight, and she has always had trouble making weight, but always seems to get a free pass.
from 2 months ago
Tim I agree that there may be Woman who deserve it more, but we all know that sometimes that doesn't matter. What matters is that Gina is on a TV show that millions of people tune into every week. Fans that have never watched MMA before will tune in to see her fight, and hopefully be hooked on MMA. I agree that Amanda Buckner, Julie Kedzie, Megumi Fuji, Tara LaRosa, and Yuka Tsuji are all great fighters but don't have the marketing Carano has.
from about 1 month ago
Hey Tim, I don't mean this to be chauvinistic in any way, but the reason Gina is the face of woman's MMA is as much because of her looks as well as her skills. She also has a really charismatic personality as well.
Not all stars are the best fighters. They are the ones who can allow their ability take them to a point, and then let their personality and charisma take them further.
about 1 month ago
her dedication to the sport only matters if she loses. if she beats kaitlin it doesnt matter if she had a bad training camp or only trains in her down time from american gladiators or had problems making weight or whatever. Those things are never a problem till you lose. If she loses, those will be key issues brought up.
about 1 month ago
Sorry if this comment turns up twice i posted it once and it dissapeared.
My name is Belinda Dunne I am the director of Princesses of Pain a female fight league which runs cards out of Auckland, New Zealand we arealso in our second season of creating fight programs for the TV audience.
Although America is slow to pick up on the women in MMA trend which is emerging there are other area's of the world which have been quicker to grap the oppertunity to air female MMA programs. New Zealand has recently aired our six part series and aired six (stand alone) slots the year before. Partys of Europe have pre bought the next season and are set to air it when it is ready 9some time after filming which is May 31st).
So thank-you for starting this topic and giving us the chance to contribute to it and congrats to Elite for enrolling two great women fighters.
If you are interested in what we are doing i would welcome you viewing our website at www.princessesofpain.com or you can view some of our fights on youtube under primetimenz (princesses of pain).
Thank-you again for the oppertunity to be here
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