UFC President Dana White is still saying his promotion isn’t considering a UFC women’s bantamweight title bout between champ Ronda Rousey and women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t give “Crush” a chance to fight.
At the UFC Fight Night 38 post-fight press conference, White revealed that Carano is technically still under a Zuffa contract due to her Strikeforce title bout with Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos in August 2009.
"Never once did I say Gina was coming back," Dana explained. "That's some rumor that got started. Gina's under contract... she's got four fight left on her Strikeforce contact."
"I've never even really talked to Gina Carano," White stated. "I don't really know her that well. Met her at a fight one time; she's sweet, she's beautiful, I like her, that's it."
Last week, a rumor began to gain traction that the UFC was targeting a superfight between Rousey and Carano for their annual July 4 weekend pay-per-view event this summer.
White has not directly denied the rumor, but has insisted that Rousey has told him she plans to take this summer off.
Rousey fought twice in an 8-week span between late December and late February, an unheard of feat for a modern day UFC champion.
The dominant titleholder beat rival Miesha Tate with an armbar at UFC 168, and then took out fellow ex-Olympic medalist Sara McMann with a knee to the liver at UFC 170.
The “Rowdy” one has an unblemished 9-0 record and is tentatively looking at fellow unbeaten fighter Cat Zingano as her next opponent.
Is Carano vs. Rousey secretly in the works behind the scenes or is this just another rumor that has gotten out of hand?