Gina Carano 'very open' to MMA return

Gina Carano 'very open' to MMA return

In the latest and perhaps greatest tease of something big, like really big, happening in regards to a new challenge for UFC bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, former Strikeforce champion Gina Carano now says she is "very open" to a return to the cage.

For weeks, rumors have swirled about who is next for Rousey thanks to Joe Rogan and Holly Holm's agent not being very good with secrets. The biggest names that have been thrown around are "Cybog" Justino and the woman she beat to become the Strikeforce champ in 2009, Gina Carano.

UFC president Dana White has expressed his enthusiasm at having Carano fight for the UFC should she decide to come back. Now, in an interview with Damon Martin, Carano herself has spoken about the chances of her making a comeback.

"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 isn't giving many details beyond that tease, for the moment, but it sounds like she's open to offers from the UFC.

"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 went on.

"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."

No matter how fit she's stayed, five years without fighting will have dulled Carano's reflexes and skills. The Muay Thai fighter seemed to admit this when she explained that a comeback would require a great deal of focus and time from her.

"I would definitely take something like that extremely seriously," Carano said.

"I would dedicate myself to it, and need the time because you're taking somebody who hasn't fought in a while, that hasn't been in the fight camp-type environment; and it would have to be done in a time where there would be enough time for me to get ready for that and be able to support myself during that time because that's all I'd be doing is taking that seriously, and it would take me away from other projects or potential projects that I've been working this far in my life to get to."