Countdown: Rousey vs. Carano (2026) Movie Script
[trainer] One, two. Boom! Cross-body pull.
-One, two. Body, head.
-[Ronda Rousey grunting]
[edgy music playing]
Cross-body pull.
One, two.
Body, head.
[Rousey grunting]
One, two. Yeah, jab.
[Rousey] Nothing was going to stop me
from putting this fight together.
[trainer] Nice! Jab.
I got into MMA
because I wanted to fight her.
[trainer] Elbows down. Jab.
[Gina Carano] I've been asked for so long,
"Would you ever beat Ronda Rousey?"
And the answer was always like, "Yes."
It's truly an honor to be her one
to come back for.
[both grunting]
[Rousey] This fight allows us
to rewrite our own ending.
She just caught me at a moment
where I was like, "Okay."
It's fate.
[edgy music fades]
[trainer] Come on.
[ethereal music playing]
[announcer] May 16th,
the first mixed martial arts event
to air live on Netflix.
[Uma Thurman] They say
time waits for no one.
But for a few,
time simply holds its breath.
[announcer] Two pioneers.
Two trailblazers.
Those words get thrown around
a lot in sports, but that's a fact.
[Thurman] For years now,
the world has lived in the "What if?"
The fantasy that the two
most famous mixed martial arts fighters
would come out of retirement
for a historic super fight.
[announcer] This is a dream fight.
A fight that most of us
never even dared to dream about,
because, let's be honest,
they fought in different eras.
[Thurman] But the wait is over.
And the "what if" is now a reality.
[music turns dramatic]
Gina Carano is more than just a fighter.
She's a legend.
The pioneering force that broke
the stained-glass ceiling
of a male-dominated arena.
She was the face.
[commentator] For the first time ever,
women mixed martial arts.
[Thurman] And the idea
that opened the door
for female fighters to come.
[Carano] Am I going to worry
about where I land in history?
I'm sorry, I just don't.
[Thurman] And then, she arrived.
Ronda Rousey, the Rowdy One,
the Arm Collector.
[commentator 2] The-- And it's over!
Rowdy Ronda Rousey continues
to amaze thee!
[Thurman] A force of nature
that tore the door off its hinges,
transforming from champion
to A-list celebrity.
[Rousey] I've gotten so much better
at things that nobody's ever seen.
This is the best
that I've ever been by far.
[Thurman] On Saturday, May 16th
in Los Angeles, California,
the two most significant MMA fighters
to ever enter the cage
will finally face each other
in a landmark event.
"Historic" doesn't even begin
to scratch the surface.
[Thurman] Bridging the gap
between two eras and two icons
whose heights never aligned.
I would not have known
that women's MMA existed
if it wasn't for her.
At the same time, she wants
to rip my arm off and shove it up my ass.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey.
Gina Carano.
One, the architect of women's MMA.
I'm definitely coming to win,
make no mistake about that.
[Thurman] The other, a trailblazer
who shook its foundation.
I want to prove to her that she created
something bigger than herself.
[Thurman] They say that the past
is a ghost you shouldn't chase.
But some stories deserve a final chapter.
Closure.
On Saturday, May 16th,
five rounds in the cage will quiet
the lingering question, "What if?"
This is Countdown: Rousey vs. Carano.
[bell ringing]
[Bear Degidio] Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls, children of all ages,
the most iconic women's MMA fighter
in the history of women's fighting in MMA,
Gina Carano!
[all cheering]
-Come on!
-Yeah!
[Degidio] Are you kidding me?
The queen is back! The queen is back!
-Netflix!
-Come on!
[Carano] I get nervous.
That's why I don't do a lot of interviews.
But that energy just now, like Oh!
The last time you fought was 2009?
[Carano] Twenty-- I think
I was 27 years old, maybe.
So, that was a long time ago.
What does that look like, coming back
to this sport after 17 years away?
[Carano] I grew up
getting into a lot of trouble.
I was a bit crazy, a little bit
out of my mind in my twenties.
So I was fighting
out of a place of, um, survival.
Growing up, I had
kind of, like, a colder energy.
Maybe that looked
like a chip on my shoulder.
But I was definitely not a troublemaker.
I just would end up in trouble.
[gripping music playing]
[Thurman] Raised amidst the neon allure
and tempting background of Las Vegas,
Gina Carano instinctively sought the grit
of an untamed path.
A teenage rebellion
against what would be considered
an affluent upbringing.
Choosing the streets,
rather than stepping
into a designed life of privilege.
[Carano] I didn't ever think about
having a future.
You're supposed to go to law school,
you're supposed to go be a doctor,
definitely going to college.
I didn't like
money being held over my head.
So, that's when I met Kevin.
The second I laid my eyes on her, I was
in love forever.
[Carano] We were young,
and were living a life
that we lost a lot of friends
to drugs, alcohol, murder.
It was not a good place to be.
How badly can we destroy our lives?
And that's the life we lived in Vegas.
And then Kevin decided
that he was going to stop drinking
and start training Muay Thai.
[Ross] At that time,
there was no Muay Thai in America.
It was just non-existent.
You couldn't even tell people.
They didn't know what it was.
[Carano] I walked into the gym
he was training at,
and this little Thai man came up to me,
Master Chan, my first-ever coach,
and he said, "Oh, baby, you're fat.
You need to lose weight."
And I was like, "Uh-huh. Yeah, okay.
All right, let's start training."
[gripping music playing]
Once you start training and learning,
it is so addicting.
You fall in love with it.
I lost 30 pounds,
and I had my first fight six months later.
[Thurman] Gina Carano quickly mastered
the Muay Thai striking style,
utilizing punches, kicks,
elbows, and knees.
One, two, three, low, rip it in there, go.
[Thurman] In 2006, the growing popularity
of mixed martial arts was hard to ignore,
and her interest soon turned.
Carano's journey
from a decorated Muay Thai champion
to a groundbreaking MMA debutante
was swift.
[Mauro Ranallo] Gina Carano
was the first mainstream star
for women's mixed martial arts,
one of the most dangerous female fighters
in early women's MMA.
I was the first female-sanctioned fight
that happened in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She was then a part
of the first women's MMA fight
on broadcast television.
[commentator] Oh, to the head,
to the body!
Go hard or go home
Go hard or go home
Go hard or go home
[commentator] There's a right hand
that drops Kedzie!
[announcer] The face of women's MMA,
Gina Carano!
[Helwani] She's got everything you'd want
in a superstar fighter.
Everyone was like,
"Holy crap, who is that?"
Now, don't be nervous.
I've seen what you can do.
I'd rather get punched
in the face right now. This is Oh!
My speed will make you levitate
Switch gears, never hesitate
[trainer] Yeah!
-[exhales heavily]
-Very nice.
[music fades]
[Thurman] Carano's blend of good looks
and raw power quickly ordained her
as the face of women's MMA.
Her 7-0 undefeated record only added
to her celebrity
as the women's side of MMA
began to catch on.
[riveting music playing]
On August 15th 2009,
Carano took on 7-1 Chris "Cyborg" Justino,
the first time two women headlined
an MMA event.
A premature collision
between popularity and unmatched power.
[commentator] These two ladies
wasting no time going at it.
[Helwani] It was the fight that
everyone wanted to see in women's MMA.
In the end,
it did not go well for Gina Carano.
[commentator] Cyborg, pouring it on.
-[air horn blares]
-Cyborg! It's over!
[Thurman] As the first woman
to carry the mainstream torch,
her sole professional loss felt
less like a defeat
and more like the end of an era.
[Helwani] She has never fought since.
There was a feeling like,
"Man, as quickly as you arrived,
you disappeared as well."
Don't make it crazy,
just nice and relaxed.
Let's get the demons out.
[Thurman] Over the years,
the temptation to return remained.
Contracts were offered, but Carano chose
to leave her reputation
as a pioneer intact.
[somber music playing]
Now, nearly two decades later,
with the help of her coach John Wood,
Gina Carano will once again enter the cage
against an equally dangerous opponent.
[Wood] The thing with Gina is
being out so long,
there isn't the wear and tear on the body.
Here we go.
[both grunting]
She still has the speed,
she still has the power.
She hits like a fricking ton of bricks.
I mean, she still kicks like a mule.
[Jake Paul] I feel like there's something
in every human
when you see
this perfect opportunity and synergy,
and that's what we have in front of us.
I believe they both always wanted
to fight each other,
and to prove who was better.
-[Wood] Looking good.
-Yeah.
This is probably, I'd say,
one of the hardest things I've ever done.
It's one thing to
[Wood] It's crazy.
walk into a gym like, "I wanna fight."
It's another thing to take the time off,
know what it is.
That fighter kicks in and you go,
"Oh, this is what we're doing."
[Carano] Yeah.
I don't really like to look back
and say I'd like to change things.
I like to think, you know, I learned.
Had that fight gone better with Cyborg,
I might be a completely different person.
I wouldn't be sitting here
excited to fight Ronda Rousey.
[music fades]
[rooster crowing]
[Rousey] We're going to go
clean the duck pond
and probably give the chickens some food
and get some eggs.
Look at that.
Hi, guys. So we take all of our scraps.
They'll eat old meat, old pasta,
old cheese, anything.
[unlatches gate]
Every section of my life feels
like a whole other person ago.
I'm totally not who I was
when I was doing judo.
I'm not who I was when I was at the UFC.
I'm not who I was when I was in the WWE.
This isn't part of the training. [laughs]
I was doing this shit when I was pregnant.
[gentle music playing]
My garden up front has gone to shit
since I've had children.
I'm like, "I'm not keeping anything alive
other than little humans now."
I just have so many other things
that are important now,
and I think that that kind of balance
is really healthy.
This is definitely my favorite me so far.
[Thurman] It's hard to imagine
Ronda Rousey living the quiet life,
away from the roar of the crowds
she once absorbed.
Ducks are dirty,
but, man, their eggs are so good.
[Thurman] But here, east of Los Angeles,
the former champion has traded in
her combat gloves for just that.
[Rousey] This isn't all shit.
A lot of it's dirt.
[Thurman] A sanctuary built on balance,
not much different than a dojo,
where as a young kid,
the gentle art of judo came easy.
[Rousey] I remember the first day
I did judo, I didn't have a hair tie.
My hair was crazy, all over the place,
and I was trying to do it.
I can't really say it any other way,
but I was a prodigy at it.
You usually start judo when you're six
and my first tournament was
on my 11th birthday.
Five years later,
I was the number one woman
in the country at my weight.
[Thurman] Rousey's meteoric rise
in the sport culminated
at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games
in Beijing, where she won bronze,
becoming the first American woman
to earn an Olympic medal in judo.
[gentle music continues]
But the structured confines of the sport
began to feel restrictive,
and with the path to women's MMA now clear
thanks to Gina Carano,
Rousey sensed an opportunity.
[grunting]
[music fades]
[Rousey] You peak in judo
in your mid-twenties.
I was already
a world Olympic medalist at 21,
and maybe I just needed a break from judo.
And so, when I saw MMA becoming a thing,
and I saw Gina Carano doing it,
I was like, "Wait a minute."
"They get to be on the ground
as long as they want?"
"No one stands them up?"
They're like, "No."
I'm like, "Dude,
I would fucking kill her."
So, that's one thing that drew me to MMA,
is how uninvolved the referees are.
So I was like, "Give me a year."
Less than a year from my pro debut,
I won the Strikeforce Championship.
[rock music playing]
[Thurman] Rousey's unique brand
of dominance
was a seismic, unapologetic earthquake.
Rivaled only by the sudden
mainstream success of mixed martial arts
and the rise
of the Ultimate Fighting Championship
and its pay-per-view model,
she dismantled opponents
with her signature inevitable armbar,
both terrifying and mesmerizing
for the few moments
she allowed her fights to last.
I try to keep her on a short leash
I try to calm her down
I try to ram her into the ground
Yeah
[Nakisa Bidarian] The armbar, infamous.
Ten seconds, 20 seconds, 30,
it was unbelievable.
[Helwani] When Ronda hit the armbar,
it was over.
MMA had never seen anything like that.
No one knew how to get out of it.
It was the closest thing that we had
to a pro wrestler's finisher.
When Hulk Hogan hit you with the leg drop,
Jake the Snake with the DDT, it was over.
[Ranallo] Ronda Rousey recorded
the fastest UFC female title fight win
in history.
Fourteen seconds is all it took!
She is not born like other girls
[Thurman] Rousey, in just four years, had
an incredible 12-0 record.
But as opponents tapped out,
her popularity set in.
[Helwani] She was
a million pay-per-view buy,
and at one point,
felt bigger than the UFC itself.
At the peak of her powers,
Ronda Rousey was a true global phenomenon.
Yo, stop following me, motherfucker!
No! We know each other.
Do you remember me?
Didn't you used to be really fat?
-Rumpy what?
-What? Wait a second. Wait.
-Rumpy what?
-Yeah, all right.
Rumpelstiltskin! All right.
[Helwani] This is a superstar.
This woman has it.
[Ranallo] It was Carano who proved
that women could fight on the big stage,
and then it was Ronda Rousey who proved
that women could own the stage.
[music fades]
[body thuds on training mat]
[Rousey] That's right on, that's knee.
Right there.
I have a really unique style of judo.
Gripping and fighting for position
is something
that I was the best at in judo ever.
-Which way do you want to go?
-Let me do a regular before a reverse.
They get you up so quickly in judo,
so I had to transition to my submission
on the way to the ground,
which is why my submissions are so fast.
It's why I work so quickly.
And it applies so well to MMA.
You see my judo in my fighting.
MMA allowed me to, like, finally be free.
It unleashed me in a way
that judo was holding me back.
They would kick back, yeah.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey helped transform
the MMA cage,
taking it from upright striking
to the canvas.
[rock music playing]
But it was her signature armbar
that haunted opponents.
It became less of a technique
and more of an inescapable fate,
one that Gina Carano will do her best
to avoid on Saturday, May 16th.
[Rousey] I'm hyped for it
because the way that she strikes
at a distance, and close,
and on the ground,
she's deadly everywhere.
When she gets down,
she knows how to get up,
but she's not getting up.
[rock music continues]
[Helwani] Every bit of this
is just massive.
It's one of the most significant events
in recent MMA history.
I guarantee you'll get
millions of people that watch.
That's just gonna grow the sport,
which is gonna be great.
[host 1] Let's be real here.
Who's winning this?
I would certainly favor Ronda Rousey.
Her judo will dominate this.
[Matt Serra] If it hits the floor,
I feel that it should be
a submission fairly quickly.
One of the best submission artists ever.
I think Gina's confidence
is stronger than Ronda's.
The difference in striking
would definitely benefit Gina.
Gina Carano's a legit kickboxer.
If Carano's able to maintain range,
she has a real shot.
But if Rousey gets her hands on her,
then Rousey's grappling
may be the deciding factor.
All Gina gotta do
is just not let her headlock her.
Final prediction right now.
First round, submission, Ronda Rousey.
I'm gonna say arm lock.
Gina Carano wins by stoppage
in the first round.
This is the biggest fight
going on right now.
This is absolutely insane.
This is the fight that I always wanted.
There's nobody I would have
come out for, except for her.
Gina hasn't fought forever,
but she knows how to fight.
Ronda looks fit.
She doesn't look like she's lost a step.
You look absolutely incredible,
and I'm sizing you up, okay?
-I swear.
-Same!
I'm number one
Like a toxin
It's go time
You called it
[music fades]
[Carano grunting]
[bell ringing]
She gives you this way, you take that way.
She gives you that way, turn the corner.
There. Punch from there.
I'm Gina Carano's boxing coach.
Since she started MMA,
I've been part of the team.
Take control.
Make her fight for every little inch.
Good. And don't feel
like, "I gotta do more."
Change it, give me some more--
Yeah, control me with everything. Yeah.
[Carano] He's been with me
since the beginning.
When I came back, there's no way
I'd do this without him.
[exciting music playing]
[Ranallo] This fight is
a classic striker versus grappler contest.
Gina Carano, she's a striker,
so she's gonna want
to keep this fight standing,
utilizing her Muay Thai skills.
While Rousey, she's gonna want
to close the distance.
Grab the clinch,
bring the fight to the ground,
where her submissions are most dangerous.
[Chris] On your terms, double.
Ronda was the girl in MMA gyms
that could submit the guys.
Like, her judo, jiu-jitsu is that good.
It's ridiculous.
Don't get greedy.
Land a couple, make her reset.
Gina was the girl
that the guys did not want to spar with,
because she would hit you
and she would hit you hard.
No question, we have a place
where we want to keep this fight.
Over the top.
None of us would do it
if we didn't think Gina would win.
We have our game plan,
and I expect to knock Ronda out
at some point in the fight.
Quick feet, quick hands.
That. Give it up.
Ben, you got somebody
to come after we're done
and sweep up all the rust?
The rust is falling off now.
[exciting music continues]
[Carano] We both have our game plans.
The moment that bell sounds,
I think I'm getting a big ball
of Ronda rushing at me.
[Chris] Good.
You just never know
what's gonna happen in a fight, right?
[Thurman] Learning to adapt
to what's in front of you
is pivotal in turning obstacles
into opportunities.
Life, much like the cage
in its often chaotic unfolding,
rarely follows a Hollywood script.
Back in 2009, after suffering
her only professional defeat to Cyborg,
the idea of getting
back into the cage lingered.
But as one door swayed on its hinges,
another opened.
[Carano] I got a phone call from an agent.
He had gotten an interesting phone call
from a man named Steven Soderbergh,
one of the most incredible directors.
You get a call from Steven Soderbergh,
any A-list actor will drop
what they're doing and take that.
The film was called Haywire, which--
I have a special connection to that word
now because it's my first movie,
and when people are like,
"Everything's going haywire,"
I'm like, "I know." [chuckles]
[funk music playing]
That led me into Hollywood,
and I just got addicted to doing that.
Then I got Fast and the Furious.
Why should I help you?
Deadpool. That was so much fun.
[Deadpool] Whoo! Superhero landing!
[Carano] Just being the character
that just gets to be bad,
and you don't have
to be apologetic about it at all.
I'm craving playing
that kind of character again.
Just, you know, I just want to be bad.
Thanks!
Then I got a phone call
that Jon Favreau wanted to meet me.
I was the first actress they met with
for The Mandalorian.
[grunting]
We went to the storyboards,
and then they come to this woman
that looks like me, and he was like,
"Here we are. This is the character
that we have in mind for you."
That one blew my mind.
[music fades]
[Thurman] Carano's cinematic trajectory,
however, shifted quickly.
[somber music playing]
In 2021,
her unfiltered social media presence
got her into hot water.
After posting about sensitive
political and social issues,
she was fired and, overnight,
shunned from the industry.
A self-inflicted entanglement
where the intersection of free speech
met modern entertainment
and its idealistic boundaries.
[music turns serene]
[Carano] After I got fired,
I took it out internally, on myself,
and it led to a progressive sickness.
There'd be weeks I'd lay in bed
and just be like,
"Gosh. Everything I worked for"
I got to such a point of pain and anxiety
to where your skin hurts.
[serene music continues]
Somebody told me once, being fired
or going through the worst part
of your life,
in a couple years,
you might look back and think,
"Maybe that's exactly what I needed."
And maybe it was.
[music fades]
-[Ross] You gonna put the ground beef in?
-[Carano] Yes. Bigger. Yeah.
-[Ross] Bigger than that?
-[Carano] Yeah.
[Ross] Egg whites or both?
[Carano] Mm Egg whites, yeah, egg whites.
Me and Kevin, we mastered some meals
over the COVID lockdown.
This is a made-up avocado shrubbery.
I call it "shrubbery," it's cabbage.
Some ground beef,
and then you dip it in some Greek yogurt
and mix it in with salsa.
[solemn music playing]
[Thurman] For three and a half years,
Carano struggled with her new reality.
Two life-defining careers, now in limbo.
But a year and a half ago,
the rumblings of a potential fight
with Ronda Rousey began,
and it was enough motivation
to return to the familiar refuge
of mixed martial arts.
Now that the fight is set,
it's a daily, disciplined struggle.
One small victory at a time.
[music intensifies]
[Carano] I'm just
really being super strict.
Because that's the first victory,
is weighing in on May 15th.
So, that'll be my first victory.
Getting back into training is humbling.
Humbling.
Like, this is not easy at all.
But I feel like every ounce in me
feels like it's worth it.
My fallout with Hollywood
changed everything.
I wouldn't be taking a fight at all.
I'd be acting.
That's why I think it's the best thing
that could ever happen to me.
Because I am so happy now.
Every bite is going to be so worth it.
[both chuckling]
Martial arts is a healing thing.
As violent as it might seem
to everybody else,
it's healed me twice now.
And saved my life, I'd say.
[music fades]
[fan whirring]
[Rousey panting]
[Thurman] By 2015, Ronda Rousey was
on top of the world.
Undefeated in the cage,
a pop culture icon,
and one of the most famous people
in the world.
A blessing and a burden at the same time.
Heavy is the head who wears the crown.
[Rousey] Fame is a hustle.
It's something you have to do constantly.
You have to feed it,
so I was constantly feeding it,
because it was a tool I was using
to accomplish the things
that I wanted to accomplish.
And then it gets out of control a bit.
I had people camping outside of my house
and taking pictures of me,
like, feeding my dog in my backyard,
and mobs of people circling the car.
Stalkers showing up at my house, and
I mean, I was just fucking exhausted.
And I needed a break so bad.
And then Dana called me right away
and was like, "I need you to step up."
[somber music playing]
[Thurman] In Rousey's
13th professional fight,
she was a ten-to-one favorite
over Holly Holm.
But getting Holm on the ground,
where Rousey could avoid her punches
and apply her signature armbar,
was easier said than done.
[Ranallo] Holm presented
a stylistic puzzle.
She used footwork, angles,
and disciplined striking
to keep Rousey at distance.
[Thurman] And as this
stylistic paradox unfolded,
Rousey's aura of invincibility
began to waver.
-[man 1] Beautiful. She's hurt!
-[man 2] Can she get--
-Ronda's in trouble.
-[man 1] She's hurt.
-Holly looking to finish.
-[man 2] She's out!
[man 1] Holly Holm is the new
[Helwani] She ends up
suffering her first loss.
It was a really big deal,
and she took it really hard.
For a year after that,
she didn't speak to anyone.
She didn't do any media.
You never saw her.
There was a point,
"Will she ever come back?
Will she fight again?"
[music slowly fades]
[Rousey] After that, I didn't want
to come back to fight.
I was so over it and so heartbroken.
But I just wanted to get it over with
because everybody wanted me to come back.
I felt like maybe this is
what I needed to do,
to show everybody I could come back
from adversity or something.
That's what they needed to see.
And I got it over with.
[dark music playing]
[Thurman] One year later,
Rousey's comeback
against another violent striker,
Amanda Nunes,
fell well short of expectations,
as she was taken down in just 48 seconds.
-[commentator 1] It's over. Wow!
-[commentator 2] It's all over.
[Thurman] It was a sobering reminder
of the unforgiving nature of the cage,
and an almost-tragic closing chapter
on Rousey's untouchable dominance,
leaving the 28-year-old queen of combat
wondering, "What's next?"
[Rousey] I knew
that my fighting career was over.
So, it wasn't just that I lost a fight.
It wasn't just that I wasn't
champion anymore.
It was that I didn't think
I could be a fighter anymore.
And I didn't know who I was
if I wasn't a fighter.
[analyst] Some people will say
Ronda Rousey is the greatest
female fighter of all time.
Is Ronda Rousey overrated?
[analyst 2] It's going to be interesting
to see, though, if she decides
to come back for another fight
or if she does, in fact, decide to retire.
[analyst 3] Think about the last fights,
have you processed it all?
[Rousey] I'd just rather not talk
about that right now.
[dark music continues]
[voice breaks] I was sitting there,
thinking about killing myself.
That exact second,
I'm like, "I'm nothing."
I'm like, "What do I do anymore?"
To be honest, I looked up
and I saw my man.
Travis was standing there,
and I was looking up at him [sniffles]
I was like, "I need to have his babies.
I need to stay alive."
[audience laughs]
Really, that was it.
-You need to stay alive.
-[audience applauds]
[music fades]
[Bidarian] I've saved this message
for the past 11 years
'cause I read it from time to time
and think how powerful it was.
You in the ring that night,
after losing with your head down,
and I think people forget
you were a 28-year-old
and the whole world had been
on your shoulders
and you were carrying this company.
"No way. You cannot be a legend
without getting knocked on your ass."
"People can't relate to perfection.
They relate to a beautiful struggle."
"She will be loved more
than she could ever have imagined."
"She needs to try again
with her head held high."
"What the fuck is a story without tragedy?
No tragedy equals no hero."
"Show her this message.
I'm in her corner 1,000%."
-Do you know who that message is from?
-From who?
Kobe Bryant.
To see this message
from a legend like Kobe Bryant,
I know come May 16th, we're going
to see the best version of you,
and I wish Kobe was there to see it, too.
Because that message just means
so much in my mind. You know?
-All right.
-I'm gonna go now.
-[Rousey laughs] Thanks.
-Thank you so much. Bye.
All right. Bye. Bye.
Man.
I remember sitting on my couch,
in Venice, just crying.
[somber music playing]
You know, to have him, like
be behind me in a time
that most people weren't anymore.
You know?
[sniffles]
[music fades]
-[trainer] Jab.
-[impact on pads]
One, two. Jab.
Because this is what matters,
is your ability to get there.
You know what I mean? Just deal with it.
[Rousey] Right.
-[trainer] Right? One, two.
-Right.
Yeah, jab. Feint, one, two.
[inspiring music playing]
[Thurman] After marrying
her long-term partner
and former MMA fighter Travis Browne,
it wasn't long before she was
back in front of the crowds.
Just three years removed
from her last fight,
Rousey channeled her competitive intensity
with two stints in professional wrestling.
And gave birth to two daughters.
Now, a full decade
since she entered the cage,
Rousey is stepping back into the light
on Saturday, May 16th,
no longer driven by the frantic need
to prove her greatness,
but by the desire to cement her legacy.
-Yeah, do you know what I mean?
-[Rousey] Yeah.
I think everything happens
exactly the way that it should happen.
I need to be in there for myself.
In those last two fights,
I was in there for everybody else.
I needed to take that step back
and to reassess
and to really find
a new way of doing things
that was entirely in my own way.
I think that's why
I really needed this fight.
I needed it to be able
to take my ownership back.
[Browne] It's fun to see her smile
in her camps again.
We're at a point in our lives
where we do what we want.
[music fades]
And it's something that she really wants
to do, so she has my full support.
That's what we do for each other.
That's what kept us together
for over a decade now.
See you later.
[Browne] See you later.
Hate to see you leave
but I'll watch you walk away.
[Rousey laughs]
[exciting music playing]
[Thurman] With the fight just weeks away,
fine-tuning the game plan takes priority.
Carano's path to victory mirrors
those that have bested Rousey in the past.
Leveraging the cage into a striking arena
where she can take advantage
of her Muay Thai pedigree,
keeping the fight standing,
and avoiding the canvas
where Rousey's judo skills
give her the upper hand.
[Carano] We know what Ronda's a genius at.
If she gets ahold of you,
you're in trouble.
But, like, she's human.
There you go. Kick with your base leg.
Hey! That was it.
[Carano] I'm a heavy hitter, I'd say.
[trainer] Hey.
[Carano] But I also am a little tricky.
[music fades]
You never know what to expect from me.
So, we're gonna
add in our training partner, Shonda.
Shonda Mousey.
Okay. Teach us some judo.
One-two block, work your way in.
Good, clinch it up. Breathing.
We know what Ronda's good at,
what she wants to do.
She'll try to toss us on our head,
break our arm, choke us.
And sweep her down.
On top, good.
Control position, good, tight.
The goal is to close those gaps
as much as possible,
but we're gonna try to knock her out.
[tense music playing]
[Carano] Is this about money?
No, absolutely not.
Money's nice, but, you know,
money can be gone
[snaps fingers] like that.
Is this fight about fame?
No, because that,
I've experienced personally,
can be gone like that.
This is about the fight.
[Wood] Fight. [grunting]
[Carano] The challenge.
Good.
[Carano] It's about respect.
It's about closing out something
that's always been lingering in my head.
Could I do that again?
[Wood] Uppercut. Up! [grunting]
Cross.
Hook.
-Time.
-[bell dings]
[Carano] And to be able to start answering
that question, "Yes, I can,"
is just such a beautiful thing.
Doing hard things
makes you start to live again.
I feel so alive right now.
And whatever I went through,
thank God for that.
My life is so cool to be sitting here
and dreaming about standing
across the ring from a legendary fighter.
[music fades]
-[trainer] One, two, one.
-[impact on pads]
Right hand.
One jab. Now, give me a jab and a hook.
Fine. Again.
Again.
One, two.
One, two, one.
-[pensive music playing]
-Right hand.
[Rousey] I didn't have any desire
to come back to MMA at all.
I just felt like that entire chapter
of my life was closed.
I'd put that wall up,
where I didn't want to have
anything to do with it because of, like
[voice breaks] just how much
I love all of it.
And I just didn't want
anything to do with it again.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey may have
turned the page on her fighting career,
but the love for a sport
you helped revolutionize
never fully subsides.
So, when her husband's MMA coach,
Ricky Lundell, asked for help
in the pursuit of a black belt in judo,
the familiar rhythms of the cage
reignited a spark that was smoldering
just beneath the surface.
[Rousey] He had so much enthusiasm
and was such a great student,
and I was having
so much fun and joy with it again,
and really rekindling all of those things
that I tried to stamp out.
[Lundell] Time.
Being there, it was only a matter of time
that, of course, it would lead
to wanting to actually fight again.
It's been a very powerful healing
experience all the way around.
It just started to reignite
that joy in me again
of how fascinated I am with all of this.
[electrifying music playing]
[Thurman] So, here we are,
a decade removed from her last MMA fight,
about to enter the cage
against Gina Carano,
a striker whose fighting arsenal mirrors
the technical prowess
that ended her championship reign.
[trainer] Good.
[music intensifies]
[Rousey] What's really incredible
about Gina's striking style
that presents a very unique problem for me
is that she is very good at a distance.
She has a very good, long right hand,
but in a clinch,
and I'm able to close the distance,
her knees, her elbows are fucking so good.
I won't be able to get close
and not pay for it.
I don't know how I'll handle the strikes.
That's how perfect I have to be.
[Lundell] We do expect to get
into a big match with big exchanges,
and we're making sure
that we're prepared in every aspect.
[trainer] One, two, uppercut, hook, cross.
That's it.
[Lundell] We have the skills and ability
to knock out,
to take the fight anywhere it needs to go,
and we push for that aspect,
but we're ready to go
after what we really want.
The goal's the Rowdy special.
No one in martial arts has
better armbars than me.
You never get to my workspace and get out.
You're never getting out of there.
It's over.
[Lundell] We're not pulling away
from something that we've been working on
for the last 30 years.
Ronda's developed that forever,
and she's the best in the world
at that type of a game.
I'm prepared for anything, you know?
If this is a five-round fucking brawl
for the ages,
I can fucking grind better than she can.
[Lundell] Cage door's going to close,
you're gonna see two women
that have worked their heart out
to get to this space.
[Rousey laughing] She is so fucked.
We're here, you're dead.
They're gonna be their best ever.
Someone's getting finished.
[music peaks and fades]
[Carano] I feel like Ronda's
been chasing me for a long time,
and it is out of respect that I show up
the person that maybe
she thinks I can't be.
I want her to know what she's been chasing
'cause she doesn't know.
[Rousey] I'm ready at the drop of a hat.
I'm going to be the most dangerous
I have ever been May 16th.
[Carano] Every time
I think about this fight,
I think about it walking away with the W.
That's how I see it in my head.
And when I see it in my head,
I can make it happen.
[Rousey] For me, this is my own closure.
I've done enough fighting
for everybody else. This fight's for me.
My job isn't to hate her
or to get her to hate me.
My job is to get people
to watch this fight.
Why would you tune in?
Um, why wouldn't you?
I think about you
I think about you
I think about you
I think about you
[Helwani] We're just days away now
from a historic event.
I believe the UFC is dying,
and MVP is here to take over.
[Thurman] Call it a takeover.
Change is coming. I'm very happy
to be at the forefront of it.
I think about you
[Thurman] Call it a theatrical disruption
of the MMA landscape.
Call it whatever you want.
This will be the most viewed MMA event
of all time, period.
[Thurman] In just a few days,
we turn back the clock
It doesn't get bigger than this.
[Helwani] This is gigantic
for the sport of MMA.
[Thurman] and remind a new generation
that two of the baddest women
on the planet
still hold the keys to the kingdom.
For Gina Carano,
the dust may have settled,
only to be kicked up again.
Nothing's going to wake you up
better than a fight.
[Thurman] Proving that a life that seemed
irrevocably derailed can tilt.
I am whooping the shit
out of her in my head.
[Thurman] Her return
isn't just a comeback.
It's a rekindling of a fire
that once redefined the sport.
[Rousey] I want what succeeds me
to exceed me.
That's respect.
The best way for me to show her that
is to whoop her fucking ass.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey reenters the cage,
not with a shout,
but with a silent pull of the tide,
drawn back to the canvas
where her legend first took root.
[Rousey] There's no way anyone has
any idea how fucking great I am at this,
and how much better I am
than I've ever been.
[Thurman] Proving that the fiercest storms
don't fade,
they simply wait
for their season to return.
I think about you
Do you think about me?
Do you think you'd win in a fight
If you saw me out on the street
This is not just
the biggest women's fight of all time.
This is the biggest MMA fight of all time.
It's going to get the most views
on the biggest platform,
on a card with the biggest stars,
and will be headlined by two women
who dared to dream big.
Bet your ass this is the biggest MMA fight
of all time. Bar none!
[crowd cheering]
[Thurman] And just when you think
the night couldn't be more memorable,
how about two more epic fights?
Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry.
And Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins.
Three main events in one night.
[music continues]
On Saturday, May 16th,
Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano
will bridge the past
with a vicious, unyielding present,
trading the shadows of history
for another moment in the spotlight.
[music fades]
Lightning in a bottle
I'm wrapped around your heart
Damn, I look so good
Mistaking me for art
I'm the kind of trouble
To pull your world apart
Let me know a good time
And place to start
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
Oh!
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
Oh!
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
Oh!
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
[music fades]
-One, two. Body, head.
-[Ronda Rousey grunting]
[edgy music playing]
Cross-body pull.
One, two.
Body, head.
[Rousey grunting]
One, two. Yeah, jab.
[Rousey] Nothing was going to stop me
from putting this fight together.
[trainer] Nice! Jab.
I got into MMA
because I wanted to fight her.
[trainer] Elbows down. Jab.
[Gina Carano] I've been asked for so long,
"Would you ever beat Ronda Rousey?"
And the answer was always like, "Yes."
It's truly an honor to be her one
to come back for.
[both grunting]
[Rousey] This fight allows us
to rewrite our own ending.
She just caught me at a moment
where I was like, "Okay."
It's fate.
[edgy music fades]
[trainer] Come on.
[ethereal music playing]
[announcer] May 16th,
the first mixed martial arts event
to air live on Netflix.
[Uma Thurman] They say
time waits for no one.
But for a few,
time simply holds its breath.
[announcer] Two pioneers.
Two trailblazers.
Those words get thrown around
a lot in sports, but that's a fact.
[Thurman] For years now,
the world has lived in the "What if?"
The fantasy that the two
most famous mixed martial arts fighters
would come out of retirement
for a historic super fight.
[announcer] This is a dream fight.
A fight that most of us
never even dared to dream about,
because, let's be honest,
they fought in different eras.
[Thurman] But the wait is over.
And the "what if" is now a reality.
[music turns dramatic]
Gina Carano is more than just a fighter.
She's a legend.
The pioneering force that broke
the stained-glass ceiling
of a male-dominated arena.
She was the face.
[commentator] For the first time ever,
women mixed martial arts.
[Thurman] And the idea
that opened the door
for female fighters to come.
[Carano] Am I going to worry
about where I land in history?
I'm sorry, I just don't.
[Thurman] And then, she arrived.
Ronda Rousey, the Rowdy One,
the Arm Collector.
[commentator 2] The-- And it's over!
Rowdy Ronda Rousey continues
to amaze thee!
[Thurman] A force of nature
that tore the door off its hinges,
transforming from champion
to A-list celebrity.
[Rousey] I've gotten so much better
at things that nobody's ever seen.
This is the best
that I've ever been by far.
[Thurman] On Saturday, May 16th
in Los Angeles, California,
the two most significant MMA fighters
to ever enter the cage
will finally face each other
in a landmark event.
"Historic" doesn't even begin
to scratch the surface.
[Thurman] Bridging the gap
between two eras and two icons
whose heights never aligned.
I would not have known
that women's MMA existed
if it wasn't for her.
At the same time, she wants
to rip my arm off and shove it up my ass.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey.
Gina Carano.
One, the architect of women's MMA.
I'm definitely coming to win,
make no mistake about that.
[Thurman] The other, a trailblazer
who shook its foundation.
I want to prove to her that she created
something bigger than herself.
[Thurman] They say that the past
is a ghost you shouldn't chase.
But some stories deserve a final chapter.
Closure.
On Saturday, May 16th,
five rounds in the cage will quiet
the lingering question, "What if?"
This is Countdown: Rousey vs. Carano.
[bell ringing]
[Bear Degidio] Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls, children of all ages,
the most iconic women's MMA fighter
in the history of women's fighting in MMA,
Gina Carano!
[all cheering]
-Come on!
-Yeah!
[Degidio] Are you kidding me?
The queen is back! The queen is back!
-Netflix!
-Come on!
[Carano] I get nervous.
That's why I don't do a lot of interviews.
But that energy just now, like Oh!
The last time you fought was 2009?
[Carano] Twenty-- I think
I was 27 years old, maybe.
So, that was a long time ago.
What does that look like, coming back
to this sport after 17 years away?
[Carano] I grew up
getting into a lot of trouble.
I was a bit crazy, a little bit
out of my mind in my twenties.
So I was fighting
out of a place of, um, survival.
Growing up, I had
kind of, like, a colder energy.
Maybe that looked
like a chip on my shoulder.
But I was definitely not a troublemaker.
I just would end up in trouble.
[gripping music playing]
[Thurman] Raised amidst the neon allure
and tempting background of Las Vegas,
Gina Carano instinctively sought the grit
of an untamed path.
A teenage rebellion
against what would be considered
an affluent upbringing.
Choosing the streets,
rather than stepping
into a designed life of privilege.
[Carano] I didn't ever think about
having a future.
You're supposed to go to law school,
you're supposed to go be a doctor,
definitely going to college.
I didn't like
money being held over my head.
So, that's when I met Kevin.
The second I laid my eyes on her, I was
in love forever.
[Carano] We were young,
and were living a life
that we lost a lot of friends
to drugs, alcohol, murder.
It was not a good place to be.
How badly can we destroy our lives?
And that's the life we lived in Vegas.
And then Kevin decided
that he was going to stop drinking
and start training Muay Thai.
[Ross] At that time,
there was no Muay Thai in America.
It was just non-existent.
You couldn't even tell people.
They didn't know what it was.
[Carano] I walked into the gym
he was training at,
and this little Thai man came up to me,
Master Chan, my first-ever coach,
and he said, "Oh, baby, you're fat.
You need to lose weight."
And I was like, "Uh-huh. Yeah, okay.
All right, let's start training."
[gripping music playing]
Once you start training and learning,
it is so addicting.
You fall in love with it.
I lost 30 pounds,
and I had my first fight six months later.
[Thurman] Gina Carano quickly mastered
the Muay Thai striking style,
utilizing punches, kicks,
elbows, and knees.
One, two, three, low, rip it in there, go.
[Thurman] In 2006, the growing popularity
of mixed martial arts was hard to ignore,
and her interest soon turned.
Carano's journey
from a decorated Muay Thai champion
to a groundbreaking MMA debutante
was swift.
[Mauro Ranallo] Gina Carano
was the first mainstream star
for women's mixed martial arts,
one of the most dangerous female fighters
in early women's MMA.
I was the first female-sanctioned fight
that happened in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She was then a part
of the first women's MMA fight
on broadcast television.
[commentator] Oh, to the head,
to the body!
Go hard or go home
Go hard or go home
Go hard or go home
[commentator] There's a right hand
that drops Kedzie!
[announcer] The face of women's MMA,
Gina Carano!
[Helwani] She's got everything you'd want
in a superstar fighter.
Everyone was like,
"Holy crap, who is that?"
Now, don't be nervous.
I've seen what you can do.
I'd rather get punched
in the face right now. This is Oh!
My speed will make you levitate
Switch gears, never hesitate
[trainer] Yeah!
-[exhales heavily]
-Very nice.
[music fades]
[Thurman] Carano's blend of good looks
and raw power quickly ordained her
as the face of women's MMA.
Her 7-0 undefeated record only added
to her celebrity
as the women's side of MMA
began to catch on.
[riveting music playing]
On August 15th 2009,
Carano took on 7-1 Chris "Cyborg" Justino,
the first time two women headlined
an MMA event.
A premature collision
between popularity and unmatched power.
[commentator] These two ladies
wasting no time going at it.
[Helwani] It was the fight that
everyone wanted to see in women's MMA.
In the end,
it did not go well for Gina Carano.
[commentator] Cyborg, pouring it on.
-[air horn blares]
-Cyborg! It's over!
[Thurman] As the first woman
to carry the mainstream torch,
her sole professional loss felt
less like a defeat
and more like the end of an era.
[Helwani] She has never fought since.
There was a feeling like,
"Man, as quickly as you arrived,
you disappeared as well."
Don't make it crazy,
just nice and relaxed.
Let's get the demons out.
[Thurman] Over the years,
the temptation to return remained.
Contracts were offered, but Carano chose
to leave her reputation
as a pioneer intact.
[somber music playing]
Now, nearly two decades later,
with the help of her coach John Wood,
Gina Carano will once again enter the cage
against an equally dangerous opponent.
[Wood] The thing with Gina is
being out so long,
there isn't the wear and tear on the body.
Here we go.
[both grunting]
She still has the speed,
she still has the power.
She hits like a fricking ton of bricks.
I mean, she still kicks like a mule.
[Jake Paul] I feel like there's something
in every human
when you see
this perfect opportunity and synergy,
and that's what we have in front of us.
I believe they both always wanted
to fight each other,
and to prove who was better.
-[Wood] Looking good.
-Yeah.
This is probably, I'd say,
one of the hardest things I've ever done.
It's one thing to
[Wood] It's crazy.
walk into a gym like, "I wanna fight."
It's another thing to take the time off,
know what it is.
That fighter kicks in and you go,
"Oh, this is what we're doing."
[Carano] Yeah.
I don't really like to look back
and say I'd like to change things.
I like to think, you know, I learned.
Had that fight gone better with Cyborg,
I might be a completely different person.
I wouldn't be sitting here
excited to fight Ronda Rousey.
[music fades]
[rooster crowing]
[Rousey] We're going to go
clean the duck pond
and probably give the chickens some food
and get some eggs.
Look at that.
Hi, guys. So we take all of our scraps.
They'll eat old meat, old pasta,
old cheese, anything.
[unlatches gate]
Every section of my life feels
like a whole other person ago.
I'm totally not who I was
when I was doing judo.
I'm not who I was when I was at the UFC.
I'm not who I was when I was in the WWE.
This isn't part of the training. [laughs]
I was doing this shit when I was pregnant.
[gentle music playing]
My garden up front has gone to shit
since I've had children.
I'm like, "I'm not keeping anything alive
other than little humans now."
I just have so many other things
that are important now,
and I think that that kind of balance
is really healthy.
This is definitely my favorite me so far.
[Thurman] It's hard to imagine
Ronda Rousey living the quiet life,
away from the roar of the crowds
she once absorbed.
Ducks are dirty,
but, man, their eggs are so good.
[Thurman] But here, east of Los Angeles,
the former champion has traded in
her combat gloves for just that.
[Rousey] This isn't all shit.
A lot of it's dirt.
[Thurman] A sanctuary built on balance,
not much different than a dojo,
where as a young kid,
the gentle art of judo came easy.
[Rousey] I remember the first day
I did judo, I didn't have a hair tie.
My hair was crazy, all over the place,
and I was trying to do it.
I can't really say it any other way,
but I was a prodigy at it.
You usually start judo when you're six
and my first tournament was
on my 11th birthday.
Five years later,
I was the number one woman
in the country at my weight.
[Thurman] Rousey's meteoric rise
in the sport culminated
at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games
in Beijing, where she won bronze,
becoming the first American woman
to earn an Olympic medal in judo.
[gentle music continues]
But the structured confines of the sport
began to feel restrictive,
and with the path to women's MMA now clear
thanks to Gina Carano,
Rousey sensed an opportunity.
[grunting]
[music fades]
[Rousey] You peak in judo
in your mid-twenties.
I was already
a world Olympic medalist at 21,
and maybe I just needed a break from judo.
And so, when I saw MMA becoming a thing,
and I saw Gina Carano doing it,
I was like, "Wait a minute."
"They get to be on the ground
as long as they want?"
"No one stands them up?"
They're like, "No."
I'm like, "Dude,
I would fucking kill her."
So, that's one thing that drew me to MMA,
is how uninvolved the referees are.
So I was like, "Give me a year."
Less than a year from my pro debut,
I won the Strikeforce Championship.
[rock music playing]
[Thurman] Rousey's unique brand
of dominance
was a seismic, unapologetic earthquake.
Rivaled only by the sudden
mainstream success of mixed martial arts
and the rise
of the Ultimate Fighting Championship
and its pay-per-view model,
she dismantled opponents
with her signature inevitable armbar,
both terrifying and mesmerizing
for the few moments
she allowed her fights to last.
I try to keep her on a short leash
I try to calm her down
I try to ram her into the ground
Yeah
[Nakisa Bidarian] The armbar, infamous.
Ten seconds, 20 seconds, 30,
it was unbelievable.
[Helwani] When Ronda hit the armbar,
it was over.
MMA had never seen anything like that.
No one knew how to get out of it.
It was the closest thing that we had
to a pro wrestler's finisher.
When Hulk Hogan hit you with the leg drop,
Jake the Snake with the DDT, it was over.
[Ranallo] Ronda Rousey recorded
the fastest UFC female title fight win
in history.
Fourteen seconds is all it took!
She is not born like other girls
[Thurman] Rousey, in just four years, had
an incredible 12-0 record.
But as opponents tapped out,
her popularity set in.
[Helwani] She was
a million pay-per-view buy,
and at one point,
felt bigger than the UFC itself.
At the peak of her powers,
Ronda Rousey was a true global phenomenon.
Yo, stop following me, motherfucker!
No! We know each other.
Do you remember me?
Didn't you used to be really fat?
-Rumpy what?
-What? Wait a second. Wait.
-Rumpy what?
-Yeah, all right.
Rumpelstiltskin! All right.
[Helwani] This is a superstar.
This woman has it.
[Ranallo] It was Carano who proved
that women could fight on the big stage,
and then it was Ronda Rousey who proved
that women could own the stage.
[music fades]
[body thuds on training mat]
[Rousey] That's right on, that's knee.
Right there.
I have a really unique style of judo.
Gripping and fighting for position
is something
that I was the best at in judo ever.
-Which way do you want to go?
-Let me do a regular before a reverse.
They get you up so quickly in judo,
so I had to transition to my submission
on the way to the ground,
which is why my submissions are so fast.
It's why I work so quickly.
And it applies so well to MMA.
You see my judo in my fighting.
MMA allowed me to, like, finally be free.
It unleashed me in a way
that judo was holding me back.
They would kick back, yeah.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey helped transform
the MMA cage,
taking it from upright striking
to the canvas.
[rock music playing]
But it was her signature armbar
that haunted opponents.
It became less of a technique
and more of an inescapable fate,
one that Gina Carano will do her best
to avoid on Saturday, May 16th.
[Rousey] I'm hyped for it
because the way that she strikes
at a distance, and close,
and on the ground,
she's deadly everywhere.
When she gets down,
she knows how to get up,
but she's not getting up.
[rock music continues]
[Helwani] Every bit of this
is just massive.
It's one of the most significant events
in recent MMA history.
I guarantee you'll get
millions of people that watch.
That's just gonna grow the sport,
which is gonna be great.
[host 1] Let's be real here.
Who's winning this?
I would certainly favor Ronda Rousey.
Her judo will dominate this.
[Matt Serra] If it hits the floor,
I feel that it should be
a submission fairly quickly.
One of the best submission artists ever.
I think Gina's confidence
is stronger than Ronda's.
The difference in striking
would definitely benefit Gina.
Gina Carano's a legit kickboxer.
If Carano's able to maintain range,
she has a real shot.
But if Rousey gets her hands on her,
then Rousey's grappling
may be the deciding factor.
All Gina gotta do
is just not let her headlock her.
Final prediction right now.
First round, submission, Ronda Rousey.
I'm gonna say arm lock.
Gina Carano wins by stoppage
in the first round.
This is the biggest fight
going on right now.
This is absolutely insane.
This is the fight that I always wanted.
There's nobody I would have
come out for, except for her.
Gina hasn't fought forever,
but she knows how to fight.
Ronda looks fit.
She doesn't look like she's lost a step.
You look absolutely incredible,
and I'm sizing you up, okay?
-I swear.
-Same!
I'm number one
Like a toxin
It's go time
You called it
[music fades]
[Carano grunting]
[bell ringing]
She gives you this way, you take that way.
She gives you that way, turn the corner.
There. Punch from there.
I'm Gina Carano's boxing coach.
Since she started MMA,
I've been part of the team.
Take control.
Make her fight for every little inch.
Good. And don't feel
like, "I gotta do more."
Change it, give me some more--
Yeah, control me with everything. Yeah.
[Carano] He's been with me
since the beginning.
When I came back, there's no way
I'd do this without him.
[exciting music playing]
[Ranallo] This fight is
a classic striker versus grappler contest.
Gina Carano, she's a striker,
so she's gonna want
to keep this fight standing,
utilizing her Muay Thai skills.
While Rousey, she's gonna want
to close the distance.
Grab the clinch,
bring the fight to the ground,
where her submissions are most dangerous.
[Chris] On your terms, double.
Ronda was the girl in MMA gyms
that could submit the guys.
Like, her judo, jiu-jitsu is that good.
It's ridiculous.
Don't get greedy.
Land a couple, make her reset.
Gina was the girl
that the guys did not want to spar with,
because she would hit you
and she would hit you hard.
No question, we have a place
where we want to keep this fight.
Over the top.
None of us would do it
if we didn't think Gina would win.
We have our game plan,
and I expect to knock Ronda out
at some point in the fight.
Quick feet, quick hands.
That. Give it up.
Ben, you got somebody
to come after we're done
and sweep up all the rust?
The rust is falling off now.
[exciting music continues]
[Carano] We both have our game plans.
The moment that bell sounds,
I think I'm getting a big ball
of Ronda rushing at me.
[Chris] Good.
You just never know
what's gonna happen in a fight, right?
[Thurman] Learning to adapt
to what's in front of you
is pivotal in turning obstacles
into opportunities.
Life, much like the cage
in its often chaotic unfolding,
rarely follows a Hollywood script.
Back in 2009, after suffering
her only professional defeat to Cyborg,
the idea of getting
back into the cage lingered.
But as one door swayed on its hinges,
another opened.
[Carano] I got a phone call from an agent.
He had gotten an interesting phone call
from a man named Steven Soderbergh,
one of the most incredible directors.
You get a call from Steven Soderbergh,
any A-list actor will drop
what they're doing and take that.
The film was called Haywire, which--
I have a special connection to that word
now because it's my first movie,
and when people are like,
"Everything's going haywire,"
I'm like, "I know." [chuckles]
[funk music playing]
That led me into Hollywood,
and I just got addicted to doing that.
Then I got Fast and the Furious.
Why should I help you?
Deadpool. That was so much fun.
[Deadpool] Whoo! Superhero landing!
[Carano] Just being the character
that just gets to be bad,
and you don't have
to be apologetic about it at all.
I'm craving playing
that kind of character again.
Just, you know, I just want to be bad.
Thanks!
Then I got a phone call
that Jon Favreau wanted to meet me.
I was the first actress they met with
for The Mandalorian.
[grunting]
We went to the storyboards,
and then they come to this woman
that looks like me, and he was like,
"Here we are. This is the character
that we have in mind for you."
That one blew my mind.
[music fades]
[Thurman] Carano's cinematic trajectory,
however, shifted quickly.
[somber music playing]
In 2021,
her unfiltered social media presence
got her into hot water.
After posting about sensitive
political and social issues,
she was fired and, overnight,
shunned from the industry.
A self-inflicted entanglement
where the intersection of free speech
met modern entertainment
and its idealistic boundaries.
[music turns serene]
[Carano] After I got fired,
I took it out internally, on myself,
and it led to a progressive sickness.
There'd be weeks I'd lay in bed
and just be like,
"Gosh. Everything I worked for"
I got to such a point of pain and anxiety
to where your skin hurts.
[serene music continues]
Somebody told me once, being fired
or going through the worst part
of your life,
in a couple years,
you might look back and think,
"Maybe that's exactly what I needed."
And maybe it was.
[music fades]
-[Ross] You gonna put the ground beef in?
-[Carano] Yes. Bigger. Yeah.
-[Ross] Bigger than that?
-[Carano] Yeah.
[Ross] Egg whites or both?
[Carano] Mm Egg whites, yeah, egg whites.
Me and Kevin, we mastered some meals
over the COVID lockdown.
This is a made-up avocado shrubbery.
I call it "shrubbery," it's cabbage.
Some ground beef,
and then you dip it in some Greek yogurt
and mix it in with salsa.
[solemn music playing]
[Thurman] For three and a half years,
Carano struggled with her new reality.
Two life-defining careers, now in limbo.
But a year and a half ago,
the rumblings of a potential fight
with Ronda Rousey began,
and it was enough motivation
to return to the familiar refuge
of mixed martial arts.
Now that the fight is set,
it's a daily, disciplined struggle.
One small victory at a time.
[music intensifies]
[Carano] I'm just
really being super strict.
Because that's the first victory,
is weighing in on May 15th.
So, that'll be my first victory.
Getting back into training is humbling.
Humbling.
Like, this is not easy at all.
But I feel like every ounce in me
feels like it's worth it.
My fallout with Hollywood
changed everything.
I wouldn't be taking a fight at all.
I'd be acting.
That's why I think it's the best thing
that could ever happen to me.
Because I am so happy now.
Every bite is going to be so worth it.
[both chuckling]
Martial arts is a healing thing.
As violent as it might seem
to everybody else,
it's healed me twice now.
And saved my life, I'd say.
[music fades]
[fan whirring]
[Rousey panting]
[Thurman] By 2015, Ronda Rousey was
on top of the world.
Undefeated in the cage,
a pop culture icon,
and one of the most famous people
in the world.
A blessing and a burden at the same time.
Heavy is the head who wears the crown.
[Rousey] Fame is a hustle.
It's something you have to do constantly.
You have to feed it,
so I was constantly feeding it,
because it was a tool I was using
to accomplish the things
that I wanted to accomplish.
And then it gets out of control a bit.
I had people camping outside of my house
and taking pictures of me,
like, feeding my dog in my backyard,
and mobs of people circling the car.
Stalkers showing up at my house, and
I mean, I was just fucking exhausted.
And I needed a break so bad.
And then Dana called me right away
and was like, "I need you to step up."
[somber music playing]
[Thurman] In Rousey's
13th professional fight,
she was a ten-to-one favorite
over Holly Holm.
But getting Holm on the ground,
where Rousey could avoid her punches
and apply her signature armbar,
was easier said than done.
[Ranallo] Holm presented
a stylistic puzzle.
She used footwork, angles,
and disciplined striking
to keep Rousey at distance.
[Thurman] And as this
stylistic paradox unfolded,
Rousey's aura of invincibility
began to waver.
-[man 1] Beautiful. She's hurt!
-[man 2] Can she get--
-Ronda's in trouble.
-[man 1] She's hurt.
-Holly looking to finish.
-[man 2] She's out!
[man 1] Holly Holm is the new
[Helwani] She ends up
suffering her first loss.
It was a really big deal,
and she took it really hard.
For a year after that,
she didn't speak to anyone.
She didn't do any media.
You never saw her.
There was a point,
"Will she ever come back?
Will she fight again?"
[music slowly fades]
[Rousey] After that, I didn't want
to come back to fight.
I was so over it and so heartbroken.
But I just wanted to get it over with
because everybody wanted me to come back.
I felt like maybe this is
what I needed to do,
to show everybody I could come back
from adversity or something.
That's what they needed to see.
And I got it over with.
[dark music playing]
[Thurman] One year later,
Rousey's comeback
against another violent striker,
Amanda Nunes,
fell well short of expectations,
as she was taken down in just 48 seconds.
-[commentator 1] It's over. Wow!
-[commentator 2] It's all over.
[Thurman] It was a sobering reminder
of the unforgiving nature of the cage,
and an almost-tragic closing chapter
on Rousey's untouchable dominance,
leaving the 28-year-old queen of combat
wondering, "What's next?"
[Rousey] I knew
that my fighting career was over.
So, it wasn't just that I lost a fight.
It wasn't just that I wasn't
champion anymore.
It was that I didn't think
I could be a fighter anymore.
And I didn't know who I was
if I wasn't a fighter.
[analyst] Some people will say
Ronda Rousey is the greatest
female fighter of all time.
Is Ronda Rousey overrated?
[analyst 2] It's going to be interesting
to see, though, if she decides
to come back for another fight
or if she does, in fact, decide to retire.
[analyst 3] Think about the last fights,
have you processed it all?
[Rousey] I'd just rather not talk
about that right now.
[dark music continues]
[voice breaks] I was sitting there,
thinking about killing myself.
That exact second,
I'm like, "I'm nothing."
I'm like, "What do I do anymore?"
To be honest, I looked up
and I saw my man.
Travis was standing there,
and I was looking up at him [sniffles]
I was like, "I need to have his babies.
I need to stay alive."
[audience laughs]
Really, that was it.
-You need to stay alive.
-[audience applauds]
[music fades]
[Bidarian] I've saved this message
for the past 11 years
'cause I read it from time to time
and think how powerful it was.
You in the ring that night,
after losing with your head down,
and I think people forget
you were a 28-year-old
and the whole world had been
on your shoulders
and you were carrying this company.
"No way. You cannot be a legend
without getting knocked on your ass."
"People can't relate to perfection.
They relate to a beautiful struggle."
"She will be loved more
than she could ever have imagined."
"She needs to try again
with her head held high."
"What the fuck is a story without tragedy?
No tragedy equals no hero."
"Show her this message.
I'm in her corner 1,000%."
-Do you know who that message is from?
-From who?
Kobe Bryant.
To see this message
from a legend like Kobe Bryant,
I know come May 16th, we're going
to see the best version of you,
and I wish Kobe was there to see it, too.
Because that message just means
so much in my mind. You know?
-All right.
-I'm gonna go now.
-[Rousey laughs] Thanks.
-Thank you so much. Bye.
All right. Bye. Bye.
Man.
I remember sitting on my couch,
in Venice, just crying.
[somber music playing]
You know, to have him, like
be behind me in a time
that most people weren't anymore.
You know?
[sniffles]
[music fades]
-[trainer] Jab.
-[impact on pads]
One, two. Jab.
Because this is what matters,
is your ability to get there.
You know what I mean? Just deal with it.
[Rousey] Right.
-[trainer] Right? One, two.
-Right.
Yeah, jab. Feint, one, two.
[inspiring music playing]
[Thurman] After marrying
her long-term partner
and former MMA fighter Travis Browne,
it wasn't long before she was
back in front of the crowds.
Just three years removed
from her last fight,
Rousey channeled her competitive intensity
with two stints in professional wrestling.
And gave birth to two daughters.
Now, a full decade
since she entered the cage,
Rousey is stepping back into the light
on Saturday, May 16th,
no longer driven by the frantic need
to prove her greatness,
but by the desire to cement her legacy.
-Yeah, do you know what I mean?
-[Rousey] Yeah.
I think everything happens
exactly the way that it should happen.
I need to be in there for myself.
In those last two fights,
I was in there for everybody else.
I needed to take that step back
and to reassess
and to really find
a new way of doing things
that was entirely in my own way.
I think that's why
I really needed this fight.
I needed it to be able
to take my ownership back.
[Browne] It's fun to see her smile
in her camps again.
We're at a point in our lives
where we do what we want.
[music fades]
And it's something that she really wants
to do, so she has my full support.
That's what we do for each other.
That's what kept us together
for over a decade now.
See you later.
[Browne] See you later.
Hate to see you leave
but I'll watch you walk away.
[Rousey laughs]
[exciting music playing]
[Thurman] With the fight just weeks away,
fine-tuning the game plan takes priority.
Carano's path to victory mirrors
those that have bested Rousey in the past.
Leveraging the cage into a striking arena
where she can take advantage
of her Muay Thai pedigree,
keeping the fight standing,
and avoiding the canvas
where Rousey's judo skills
give her the upper hand.
[Carano] We know what Ronda's a genius at.
If she gets ahold of you,
you're in trouble.
But, like, she's human.
There you go. Kick with your base leg.
Hey! That was it.
[Carano] I'm a heavy hitter, I'd say.
[trainer] Hey.
[Carano] But I also am a little tricky.
[music fades]
You never know what to expect from me.
So, we're gonna
add in our training partner, Shonda.
Shonda Mousey.
Okay. Teach us some judo.
One-two block, work your way in.
Good, clinch it up. Breathing.
We know what Ronda's good at,
what she wants to do.
She'll try to toss us on our head,
break our arm, choke us.
And sweep her down.
On top, good.
Control position, good, tight.
The goal is to close those gaps
as much as possible,
but we're gonna try to knock her out.
[tense music playing]
[Carano] Is this about money?
No, absolutely not.
Money's nice, but, you know,
money can be gone
[snaps fingers] like that.
Is this fight about fame?
No, because that,
I've experienced personally,
can be gone like that.
This is about the fight.
[Wood] Fight. [grunting]
[Carano] The challenge.
Good.
[Carano] It's about respect.
It's about closing out something
that's always been lingering in my head.
Could I do that again?
[Wood] Uppercut. Up! [grunting]
Cross.
Hook.
-Time.
-[bell dings]
[Carano] And to be able to start answering
that question, "Yes, I can,"
is just such a beautiful thing.
Doing hard things
makes you start to live again.
I feel so alive right now.
And whatever I went through,
thank God for that.
My life is so cool to be sitting here
and dreaming about standing
across the ring from a legendary fighter.
[music fades]
-[trainer] One, two, one.
-[impact on pads]
Right hand.
One jab. Now, give me a jab and a hook.
Fine. Again.
Again.
One, two.
One, two, one.
-[pensive music playing]
-Right hand.
[Rousey] I didn't have any desire
to come back to MMA at all.
I just felt like that entire chapter
of my life was closed.
I'd put that wall up,
where I didn't want to have
anything to do with it because of, like
[voice breaks] just how much
I love all of it.
And I just didn't want
anything to do with it again.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey may have
turned the page on her fighting career,
but the love for a sport
you helped revolutionize
never fully subsides.
So, when her husband's MMA coach,
Ricky Lundell, asked for help
in the pursuit of a black belt in judo,
the familiar rhythms of the cage
reignited a spark that was smoldering
just beneath the surface.
[Rousey] He had so much enthusiasm
and was such a great student,
and I was having
so much fun and joy with it again,
and really rekindling all of those things
that I tried to stamp out.
[Lundell] Time.
Being there, it was only a matter of time
that, of course, it would lead
to wanting to actually fight again.
It's been a very powerful healing
experience all the way around.
It just started to reignite
that joy in me again
of how fascinated I am with all of this.
[electrifying music playing]
[Thurman] So, here we are,
a decade removed from her last MMA fight,
about to enter the cage
against Gina Carano,
a striker whose fighting arsenal mirrors
the technical prowess
that ended her championship reign.
[trainer] Good.
[music intensifies]
[Rousey] What's really incredible
about Gina's striking style
that presents a very unique problem for me
is that she is very good at a distance.
She has a very good, long right hand,
but in a clinch,
and I'm able to close the distance,
her knees, her elbows are fucking so good.
I won't be able to get close
and not pay for it.
I don't know how I'll handle the strikes.
That's how perfect I have to be.
[Lundell] We do expect to get
into a big match with big exchanges,
and we're making sure
that we're prepared in every aspect.
[trainer] One, two, uppercut, hook, cross.
That's it.
[Lundell] We have the skills and ability
to knock out,
to take the fight anywhere it needs to go,
and we push for that aspect,
but we're ready to go
after what we really want.
The goal's the Rowdy special.
No one in martial arts has
better armbars than me.
You never get to my workspace and get out.
You're never getting out of there.
It's over.
[Lundell] We're not pulling away
from something that we've been working on
for the last 30 years.
Ronda's developed that forever,
and she's the best in the world
at that type of a game.
I'm prepared for anything, you know?
If this is a five-round fucking brawl
for the ages,
I can fucking grind better than she can.
[Lundell] Cage door's going to close,
you're gonna see two women
that have worked their heart out
to get to this space.
[Rousey laughing] She is so fucked.
We're here, you're dead.
They're gonna be their best ever.
Someone's getting finished.
[music peaks and fades]
[Carano] I feel like Ronda's
been chasing me for a long time,
and it is out of respect that I show up
the person that maybe
she thinks I can't be.
I want her to know what she's been chasing
'cause she doesn't know.
[Rousey] I'm ready at the drop of a hat.
I'm going to be the most dangerous
I have ever been May 16th.
[Carano] Every time
I think about this fight,
I think about it walking away with the W.
That's how I see it in my head.
And when I see it in my head,
I can make it happen.
[Rousey] For me, this is my own closure.
I've done enough fighting
for everybody else. This fight's for me.
My job isn't to hate her
or to get her to hate me.
My job is to get people
to watch this fight.
Why would you tune in?
Um, why wouldn't you?
I think about you
I think about you
I think about you
I think about you
[Helwani] We're just days away now
from a historic event.
I believe the UFC is dying,
and MVP is here to take over.
[Thurman] Call it a takeover.
Change is coming. I'm very happy
to be at the forefront of it.
I think about you
[Thurman] Call it a theatrical disruption
of the MMA landscape.
Call it whatever you want.
This will be the most viewed MMA event
of all time, period.
[Thurman] In just a few days,
we turn back the clock
It doesn't get bigger than this.
[Helwani] This is gigantic
for the sport of MMA.
[Thurman] and remind a new generation
that two of the baddest women
on the planet
still hold the keys to the kingdom.
For Gina Carano,
the dust may have settled,
only to be kicked up again.
Nothing's going to wake you up
better than a fight.
[Thurman] Proving that a life that seemed
irrevocably derailed can tilt.
I am whooping the shit
out of her in my head.
[Thurman] Her return
isn't just a comeback.
It's a rekindling of a fire
that once redefined the sport.
[Rousey] I want what succeeds me
to exceed me.
That's respect.
The best way for me to show her that
is to whoop her fucking ass.
[Thurman] Ronda Rousey reenters the cage,
not with a shout,
but with a silent pull of the tide,
drawn back to the canvas
where her legend first took root.
[Rousey] There's no way anyone has
any idea how fucking great I am at this,
and how much better I am
than I've ever been.
[Thurman] Proving that the fiercest storms
don't fade,
they simply wait
for their season to return.
I think about you
Do you think about me?
Do you think you'd win in a fight
If you saw me out on the street
This is not just
the biggest women's fight of all time.
This is the biggest MMA fight of all time.
It's going to get the most views
on the biggest platform,
on a card with the biggest stars,
and will be headlined by two women
who dared to dream big.
Bet your ass this is the biggest MMA fight
of all time. Bar none!
[crowd cheering]
[Thurman] And just when you think
the night couldn't be more memorable,
how about two more epic fights?
Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry.
And Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins.
Three main events in one night.
[music continues]
On Saturday, May 16th,
Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano
will bridge the past
with a vicious, unyielding present,
trading the shadows of history
for another moment in the spotlight.
[music fades]
Lightning in a bottle
I'm wrapped around your heart
Damn, I look so good
Mistaking me for art
I'm the kind of trouble
To pull your world apart
Let me know a good time
And place to start
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
Oh!
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
Oh!
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
Oh!
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
What you think about
What you think about that?
What you think about that?
[music fades]