Gina Carano Biography

Gina Carano	Gina Joy Carano Born: 1982-04-16 Birthplace: Dallas County, Texas Race: White Field: TV Personality Famous for: Crush on American Gladiators.
Field: TV Personality

Gina Joy Carano(born April 16, 1982) is an American mixed martial arts fighter; her specialty is Muay Thai. Carano also appears as the Gladiator "Crush" on American Gladiators. She has been referred to as the "face of women's MMA"

Carano was born in Dallas County, Texas, the middle daughter of Glenn Carano and Dana Cason. She has two sisters, one older and one younger.[2][3] Her father played for the Dallas Cowboys as a backup quarterback from 1977-1983 and for the USFL Pittsburgh Maulers as a starter in 1984, their only year of operations.

She graduated from Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas, NV where she led the girl's basketball team to a state title. She also played volleyball and softball. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno for a year and then University of Nevada, Las Vegas for three, where she majored in psychology.

Carano started her career in the sport of Muay Thai. After achieving a Muay Thai record of 12-1-1,[6]Carano received an offer to participate in the first-ever sanctioned female MMA bout in Nevada. She was invited to the World Pro Fighting show in Las Vegas to fight Rosi Sexton from the United Kingdom.[7]

She fought on the February 10, 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, defeating Julie Kedzie via unanimous decision in what was called "the fight of the night".[8]

Her scheduled bout against Jan Finney at the EliteXC/K-1 Dynamite!! USA event on June 2, 2007 was canceled due to illness. The Fight Network and other organizations reported that she was rushed to the hospital via ambulance due to dehydration while attending a World Extreme Cagefighting event as a spectator.[9]

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.[10]

Carano defeated former Hook N Shoot champion Kaitlin Young on EliteXC: Primetime on May 31, 2008.[11] A day before the fight, Carano failed to make weight for her fight (140 pounds (63.5 kg)) after weighing in at 144.5 (65.5 kg). Although most MMA organizations set weight classes at 135 (Bantamweight (MMA)) and 145 (Featherweight (MMA)) pounds (61.2 and 65.8 kg, respectively), EliteXC opted to create a women's weight class at 140 pounds.[12] Carano agreed to forfeit 12.5% of her "show" purse to Young, and the fight remained on the card.[13]

Carano's latest fight was against Kelly Kobold on October 4, 2008 at EliteXC: Heat at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida which was broadcast on CBS.

Leading up to her fight against Kobold, there was much controversy over whether or not Gina would make weight for this fight, having fought only once in the past year and not making weight at that time. Gina 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, "Gina Carano weighed in at 142.75 pounds on her first attempt.[14] After removing her sports bra, a towel-covered Carano weighed in a second time at 142.5 pounds.[15] On her third attempt without any clothes on, Carano weighed 141 pounds.[16], successfully making 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 also opening a huge gash on the inside of her opponent’s eyebrow in the first round.[17] 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 survived and the bout came to a close.[18]

Carano won by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)[19] and remains undefeated. After she won the fight, she dedicated her fight to her grandfather.

A fight against Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is in the works for February 2009. Although this is in the works, EliteXC has recently folded. Recent news has shown that the fight may or may not happen depending on where the two go.

Carano starred in the cult film Ring Girls[20] Based on true events, Ring Girls is a fast-paced story about five American women from Las Vegas who take on the ultimate challenge of fighting the best female Muay Thai fighters in the world.[21]

Along with Lisa King, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring female fighters in the Oxygen reality series Fight Girls. She currently appears as "Crush" on the NBC show American Gladiators. She will also be featured in the new Michael Jai White film Blood and Bone slated to be released sometime in 2008.

She was profiled in a feature story for the ESPN series E:60, and was voted "Hottest Woman In America" by Big Biz Magazine in the Spring of 2008 issue. On May 13, 2008, "Gina Carano" was the fastest-rising search on Google and third most searched person on Yahoo!. She is set to appear in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 as Natasha.