Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress and former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. She competed in Elite Xtreme Combat and

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

from 2006 to 2009, where she compiled a 7–1 record. Her popularity led to her being called the "face of women's MMA", although Carano rejected this title. She and

Cris Cyborg Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally as Cris Cyborg and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos, is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and Professional boxing, professional boxer who com ...

were the first women to headline a major MMA event during their 2009 Strikeforce bout. Carano retired from competition after her first professional MMA defeat to Cyborg. Transitioning from the ring to the screen, Carano landed her first major role as the lead of the action film '' Haywire'' (2011), which was followed by appearances in ''

Fast & Furious 6 ''Fast & Furious 6'' (titled onscreen as ''Furious 6'') is a 2013 action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast Five'' (2011) and the sixth installment in the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. The fil ...

'' (2013) and ''

Deadpool Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (December 1990). In his comic book appearances, Deadpool is ...

'' (2016). She also portrayed Cara Dune in the first two seasons of the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' series ''

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise and begins five years after the events of the fil ...

'' from 2019 to 2020. She was fired from the series in 2021, following several controversial political statements.

Early life

Carano was born in

Dallas County, Texas Dallas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 2,613,539, and was estimated to be 2,656,028 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, second-most populo ...

, and raised in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Nevada, the daughter of Dana Joy Cason and casino executive and former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player Glenn Carano. She is the middle child of three sisters.Carano in She was raised by her mother after her parents divorced when Gina was seven. She has said that her family celebrates "an Italian festival" every year, though she is of a "small percentage of Italian" descent. Carano graduated from Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas where she led the girls' basketball team to a state title. She also played volleyball and softball. She attended the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

for a year and then

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

for three years, majoring in psychology.

Mixed martial arts career

Carano started her career in the sport of

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

. Her then-boyfriend Kevin Ross, a pro Muay Thai fighter, got her involved. After achieving a Muay Thai record of 12–1–1, Carano received an offer from Jamie Levine to participate in the first-ever sanctioned female MMA bout in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

with World Extreme Fighting to fight Leiticia Pestovа (a bout Carano won in 38 seconds). She was invited to the World Pro Fighting show in Las Vegas to fight Rosi Sexton. Carano won the fight by knocking out Sexton late in the second round. Carano faced Elaina Maxwell at '' Strikeforce: Triple Threat'' on December 8, 2006. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Carano proved critics wrong when she defeated Maxwell for the second time; the first victory coming in a Muay Thai bout. It was the first female fight in

. She fought on the February 10, 2007 Showtime

EliteXC Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States–based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decem ...

card, defeating Julie Kedzie via unanimous decision in what was called the "Fight of the Night". It was the first televised female fight on Showtime. Her scheduled bout against Jan Finney at the EliteXC/

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

'' Dynamite!! USA'' event on June 2, 2007 was canceled due to illness. The Fight Network and other news outlets reported that Carano was rushed to the hospital by ambulance for

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

while attending a

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was mad ...

event as a spectator. Carano fought on the September 15, 2007 Showtime EliteXC card, where she defeated Tonya Evinger via rear-naked choke for her first career win by

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

. She impressed critics by holding her own on the ground before submitting Evinger late in the first round. Carano defeated former HOOKnSHOOT Champion Kaitlin Young at '' EliteXC: Primetime'' on May 31, 2008. A day before the fight, Carano failed to make weight for her fight after weighing in at . Although most MMA organizations set weight classes at (

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

) and (

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

), EliteXC opted to create a women's weight class at . Carano agreed to forfeit 12.5% of her "show" purse to Young, and the fight remained on the card. Leading up to her fight against Kelly Kobold, there was much controversy over whether Carano would make weight for the fight, as she had fought only once in the past year and had failed to make weight. Carano assured critics that she would be able to make weight since she had hired a nutritionist to help with her dieting. At the weigh-in for the Kobold fight on October 3, 2008, Carano weighed in at on her first attempt. After removing her clothing, a towel-covered Carano weighed in a second time at . The towel was removed, and on her third attempt, Carano weighed and successfully made weight. Early on, Kobold was intent on pressing Carano in the clinch, while working for the takedown throughout the fight. Kobold managed a takedown in the second round, but the round ended before she could take meaningful advantage of it. Carano worked her opportunities by hitting Kobold at every turn whenever the fighters separated while opening a huge gash on the inside of her opponent's eyebrow in the first round. At the end of the third round, Carano looked to finish the fight as she unloaded a head kick that landed flush on Kobold's chin, but Kobold remained on her feet and the bout came to a close. Carano won by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28).

Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship bout

After

purchased the assets of

ProElite ProElite, Inc. is an American entertainment and media company involved in the promotion of mixed martial arts (MMA). First incarnation Founded by boxing promoter Gary Shaw and his son Jared in 2006 in partnership with Showtime Networks Inc. (a ...

, Carano, along with other fighters within the defunct promotion, became contractually linked with Strikeforce after many months of a stalemate regarding their

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

status. It was announced at '' Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields'' that Carano's fight against

would take place on August 15, 2009, at '' Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg.'' Strikeforce created their first

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

for the bout. Though the 145-pound division is most commonly referred to as featherweight, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated that the title would be known as the Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship. The title was later renamed the Strikeforce Women's Middleweight Championship. Carano lost the fight against Cyborg by TKO at 4:59 in the first round, giving her first-ever loss in her professional MMA career. In November 2010, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated he was hopeful that she would return in 2011. Carano's return was formally announced in February 2011, and Strikeforce announced at its April 9, 2011, event in San Diego that Carano would make her return against Sarah D'Alelio on June 18, during the ''Overeem vs. Werdum Strikeforce'' event in Dallas. This bout would have been held by Zuffa, who have been detractors of women's MMA in the past. Critics asserted that the reason for the turnaround was Carano's marketability. However, the fight did not take place. Initially, Strikeforce announced Carano failed her pre-fight medical examination and the fight was pulled from the card. Later, it became public that Carano was medically cleared by the Athletic Commission but was removed from the card for other reasons. In April 2014, during an appearance on ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989 ...

'' Carano said she was considering a return to MMA. In September 2014, Dana White of the UFC said contract negotiations with Carano had stalled. During her appearance on the ''Joe Rogan Experience 690'' podcast,

Ronda Rousey Ronda Jean Rousey ( ; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, and former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE. She was the first Am ...

said a fight between Gina Carano and her had been planned for December 2014, but never materialized. Carano has not fought since August 2009 and is not scheduled for any upcoming events. She is still under contract with the UFC through her old Strikeforce contract and has four fights remaining on that contract.

Television and film career

2000s

Carano starred in the 2005 film ''Ring Girls''. Based on true events, it is about five American women from Las Vegas who attempt to fight the best Muay Thai fighters in the world. Along with Lisa King, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring fighters in the 2007

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

reality series ''

Fight Girls ''Fight Girls'' is an Oxygen (TV channel), Oxygen original reality television series that spun off from a 2006 special which documented seven female fighters' attempts at winning a championship. The initial special aired on August 7, 2006 and t ...

''. She appeared as "Crush" on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

show '' American Gladiators'', in which she starred in the workout video of the show along with Monica Carlson (Jet), Jennifer Widerstrom (Phoenix), Michael O'Hearn (Titan), Tanoai Reed (Toa) and Don "Hollywood" Yates (Wolf). The DVD was released on December 16, 2008. She appeared in '' Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3'' as Natasha, portraying the Soviet sniper/commando in various cut scenes. She is featured in the Michael Jai White film ''Blood and Bone'' (2009).

2010s

In September 2009, Carano landed the leading role in the spy thriller '' Haywire'' (2011), directed by

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...

Christy Lemire Christy A. Lemire (née Nemetz; born August 30, 1972) is an American film critic and host of the movie review podcast ''Breakfast All Day''. She previously wrote for the Associated Press from 1999 to 2013, was a co-host of '' Ebert Presents at ...

of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

stated: " arano'sdialogue delivery may seem a bit stiff—and she has acknowledged that Soderbergh made some tweaks to her voice in post-production—but she has tremendous presence: an intriguing mix of muscular power and eye-catching femininity." ''Newsweek'' said Carano's martial-arts experience gives her "an unparalleled physicality" in the role. She described her knockout fight with co-star

Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (; born 2 April 1977) is a German-Irish actor. His accolades include nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on ''The Irish Ti ...

: In February 2012, Carano was cast in '' In the Blood'' (2014), an action thriller directed by John Stockwell. In 2012, Carano was cast as the lead in an all-female ensemble action film, tentatively titled '' The ExpendaBelles'', that would have been part of '' The Expendables'' film franchise. Producer Adi Shankar said, "I don't know how I'm supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of ''The Expendables'' without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or

Jamba Juice Jamba, formerly known as Jamba Juice, is an American quick-service restaurant and juice bar chain that sells blended fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies, and other food products. The first Jamba location, originally named Juice Club, opened ...

without Jamba." The project has yet to materialize. Carano appeared in ''

'' (2013) as a member of Special Agent Luke Hobbs' (

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

)

Diplomatic Security Service The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is the principal Specialist law enforcement agency, law enforcement and security agency of the United States Department of State (DOS). Its primary mission is to protect diplomatic assets, personnel, and info ...

team. Several critics praised Carano's performance;

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' wrote, "Gina Carano is BIG fun to watch. heis still a bit stilted with her line readings, but her two fight scenes with Michelle Rodriguez are just epic." while Matt Goldberg of Collider.com wrote that the scene would "create a lot of new Gina Carano fans." In July 2013, she and comic book creator

Rob Liefeld Robert Liefeld (; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co-creating the character Cable (comics), Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with wri ...

announced they were working on a big-screen adaptation of Liefeld's '' Avengelyne'' in which Carano would star as the titular character. Carano appeared in the 2013–2014

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

series '' Almost Human'' episode "Unbound", where she played the part of an XRN combat android named Danica. She co-starred in the 2015 film '' Extraction'', and she played Angel Dust in the 2016 film ''

''. In 2018, she was cast in ''

'',

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...

's first live-action ''

'' television series. She portrayed the character Cara Dune with a first appearance in the fourth episode of the first season titled " Chapter 4: Sanctuary". Carano initially believed she would be playing the role of a female Wookiee, and was surprised to "find that hewas one of the few people that you were actually going to see her face." She played the role in seasons 1 and 2.

2020s: Firing and subsequent projects

In February 2021, Carano shared an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post that compared "hating someone for their political views" to the persecution of Jews by their fellow citizens during

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and included an image taken during the Lviv pogroms. Many critics interpreted the post as comparing American conservatives to Jews in Nazi Germany. Shortly afterward, Lucasfilm stated that Carano was no longer employed by the company, saying that "her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable". A series of posts in which she mocked the use of

face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The wearing of Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, non-medical face masks in public to lessen the transmission of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 in the United States was first recommended by the Centers for Disease Cont ...

was also cited by Lucasfilm, as well as her repeated accusations of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. She was also dropped by the

United Talent Agency United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. ...

. A week later, Carano announced she would be developing, producing, and starring in a new film project with conservative media company '' The Daily Wire''. The film, ''White Knuckle'', was to be about revenge by a survivor of an attempted murder by a serial killer. The film was scheduled to begin production in October 2021 in Tennessee, Utah, and Montana. In the U.S., it was to be released exclusively to subscribers of ''The Daily Wire'', and was to be released internationally by Voltage Pictures. In May 2021, Carano appeared as a guest on an episode of the show '' Running Wild with Bear Grylls''. By fall 2021, the ''White Knuckle'' project had been cancelled at Carano's behest, due to her unwillingness to comply with Hollywood's COVID-19 mask and vaccine requirements. She stated, "After we announced our first project this summer, the Hollywood unions started debating vaccine mandates for cast and crew, and I wasn't into that. I don't believe anybody gets to make your medical choices for you, and I'm not willing to force masks and vaccines on anyone else." ''Daily Wire'' co-founder and co-CEO Jeremy Boreing recalled Carano's demand to "find a different movie", and her statement, "To hell with it, I'll quit my union. Let's make a movie up in Montana where they can't get after us." The group began production on the replacement film, a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

entitled '' Terror on the Prairie'', that was released exclusively to ''Daily Wire'' subscribers in June 2022. In November 2021, Carano was tapped to play a secret service agent in '' My Son Hunter'', a biopic on

Hunter Biden Robert Hunter Biden (born February4, 1970) is an American attorney and businessman. He is the second son of former president Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was a founding board member of BHR Partners, a Chine ...

directed by

Robert Davi Robert John Davi (born June 26, 1951) is an American actor, singer, and filmmaker. Over the course of his acting career, Davi has performed in more than 130 films. Among his most known roles are opera-singing Jake Fratelli in '' The Goonies'' (19 ...

. In February 2022, Carano explained her social media posts, saying that she "shared a meme, I translated into: Don't let the government pit you against each other or history tells us that could go wrong." Some fans and commentators contrasted Carano's firing with fellow ''The Mandalorian'' cast member Pedro Pascal suffering no consequence for making comparisons between the treatment of Jews in concentration camps and the treatment of undocumented migrant children at ICE detention facilities in the US. Carano was defended by ''The Mandalorian'' co-star Bill Burr, who described her as "an absolute sweetheart" and criticized her firing.

''Gina Carano v. The Walt Disney Company''

In February 2024, Carano filed a lawsuit against Lucasfilm over her firing, alleging wrongful dismissal and

sex discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

. The suit was funded by

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

, who had previously promised to support anyone who suffered

employment discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, ...

because of what they posted on X. Disney motioned to have the case dismissed, which was denied by U.S. district judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. ''Gina Carano v. The Walt Disney Company, Lucasfilm LTD. LLC, and Huckleberry Industries (U.S.) Inc.'' is set to begin on September 25, 2025.

Accolades

Carano was profiled in a feature story for the

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

series '' E:60''. She was voted "Hottest Woman In America" by ''Big Biz Magazine'' in the Spring 2008 issue. On May 13, 2008, "Gina Carano" was the fastest-rising search on

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

and third-most-searched person on

Yahoo! Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...

, and ranked no. 5 on Yahoo!'s "Top Ten Influential Women of 2008" list. In May 2009, Carano was ranked no. 16 on ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

''s Hot 100 list. She is one of the cover athletes along with

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

for the October 19, 2009, edition of ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured K ...

''s Body Issue. She was a nominee for the 2013 Critics Choice Awards for best actress in an action movie for ''Haywire''.

Awards

* 2008

World MMA Awards The World MMA Awards are awards presented by ''Fighters Only'' magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the ''Fighters Only silver statuette''. The World MMA Awards are divided ...

Female Fighter of the Year * 2012 AOCA / Awakening Outstanding Contribution Award * 2012 ActionFest Film Festival, Chick Norris Award for Best Female Action Star

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 7–1 ,

, TKO (punches) , Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:59 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Kelly Kobold , Decision (unanimous) , EliteXC: Heat , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:00 ,

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Kaitlin Young , TKO (doctor stoppage) , EliteXC: Primetime , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Tonya Evinger , Submission (rear-naked choke) , EliteXC: Uprising , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:53 ,

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, Hawaii, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Julie Kedzie , Decision (unanimous) , EliteXC: Destiny , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:00 , Southaven,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Elaina Maxwell , Decision (unanimous) , Strikeforce: Triple Threat , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Rosi Sexton , KO (punch) , World Pro Fighting Championships 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:55 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Leiticia Pestova , KO (punches and elbows) , World Extreme Fighting , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:38 ,

, United States ,

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Notes

References

External links

Gina Carano with ESPN.com 2009

American Gladiators Crush Profile (GladiatorsTV.com)

American Gladiators Profile
* Goodman, Justine (October 2, 2013)
"Gina Carano Has A New Movie, 'In The Blood', So Let's Revisit Her Maxim Photo Shoot!"
''

''. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carano, Gina 1982 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Dallas Actresses from Las Vegas American female kickboxers American female mixed martial artists American film actresses American television actresses American people of Italian descent American video game actresses American women television personalities Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Gaidojutsu Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Female models from Nevada Female models from Texas American female Muay Thai practitioners Kickboxers from Nevada Kickboxers from Texas Living people Mixed martial artists from Nevada Mixed martial artists from Texas Sportspeople from Las Vegas Sportspeople from Dallas University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni University of Nevada, Reno alumni Television personalities from Texas