MMA fighter Gina Carano has addressed her 17-second loss to Ronda Rousey on Saturday (May 16) in California, calling the defeat “humbling” — though the fighters’ paydays were anything but brief.
Carano, 44, was submitted just 17 seconds into the contest at the Intuit Dome in California. Still, her reaction afterward showed little sign of discouragement.
The bout — streamed live on Netflix — served as Carano’s first MMA appearance since 2009, while Rousey returned for her first fight in 10 years.
In the end, the walkouts took longer than the action inside the cage, as Carano was forced to tap almost immediately.
Rousey finished the contest with her trademark armbar, a technique that isolates the opponent’s arm and typically produces a submission before serious damage occurs.
Despite the ultra-quick ending, Forbes reports both fighters earned massive guarantees: Carano allegedly received $1.05 million, while Rousey took home $2.2 million.
Those reported figures also don’t account for potential revenue tied to ticket sales or broadcast-related bonuses, meaning the final totals could be even higher.
After the fight, Carano said she felt she had no choice but to submit after hearing her arm start to “crackle.”
“My heart is heavy, I wanted to throw, battle, win, but I kicked when I should have moved and was down and done,” she wrote to fans on Instagram.
She added: “If I hadn’t tapped she would’ve broken my arm.”
Even so, Carano praised Rousey, saying she “adores” her and calling her “a beautiful woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister and legend.”
She also compared her preparation to fighting against the current, saying training felt like “swimming as hard as I could upstream.”
Reflecting on her long layoff, she explained: “I can count on two hands the number of times I felt good training.
“It was physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done taking the weight off while turning back into an athlete.”
Although she described the night as both “humbling” and “disappointing,” Carano made clear she sees it as a starting point rather than an ending.
“I needed to go through this fight to implement permanent lifestyle changes and now I feel like this is just the beginning,” she wrote.
“I can’t wait to see where I can push my body to go next.”
Rousey also commented afterward, saying her main focus was avoiding unnecessary harm.
She added: “I didn’t really want to hurt her. Luckily it was beautiful martial arts.”