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49-543: On October 20, 2008, ProElite , the parent company of EliteXC, informed its employees and fighters that they were shutting down. The company filed for bankruptcy protection and all future events were canceled. A breakdown in the negotiations with Showtime Networks to purchase ProElite resulted in the company's funding to disappear, forcing them out of business. ShoXC events were later replaced on Showtime by ShoMMA events put on by Strikeforce , after purchasing EliteXC's assets. The inaugural event took place on July 27, 2007 at

98-408: 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 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

147-452: A lot of new Gina Carano fans." In July 2013, she and comic book creator Rob Liefeld announced they were working on a big-screen adaptation of Liefied's Avengelyne in which Carano would star as the titular character. Carano appeared in the 2013–2014 Fox 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

196-548: A martial artist by matching him up against a well-known talent in Ken Shamrock . However just hours before the fight, Shamrock was declared unfit to fight due to a cut over his eye. He was replaced by the much lesser-known Seth Petruzelli who was originally scheduled to fight on the undercard. Petruzelli knocked Slice out in 14 seconds, but more importantly Petruzelli did a radio interview two days later where he divulged that ProElite had offered him financial incentives to keep

245-482: A member of Special Agent Luke Hobbs' ( Dwayne Johnson ) Diplomatic Security Service team. Several critics praised Carano's performance; Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Gina Carano is BIG fun to watch. [She] is 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

294-416: 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

343-679: A movie up in Montana where they can't get after us." The group began production on the replacement film, a Western 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 directed by Robert Davi . In February 2022, Carano explained her social media posts, saying that she "shared

392-509: A towel-covered Carano weighed in a second time at 142.5 pounds (64.6 kg). The towel was removed, and on her third attempt, Carano weighed 141 pounds (64 kg) 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

441-519: Is an American entertainment and media company involved in the promotion of mixed martial arts (MMA). Founded by boxing promoter Gary Shaw and his son Jared in 2006 in partnership with Showtime Networks Inc. (a CBS Corporation subsidiary), the firm initially promoted live MMA events broadcast on Showtime and Showtime PPV under the EliteXC promotional banner. CBS contracted with ProElite to show live events on prime time network television with

490-715: Is featured in the Michael Jai White film Blood and Bone (2009). In September 2009, Carano landed the leading role in the spy thriller Haywire (2011), directed by Steven Soderbergh . Christy Lemire of the Associated Press stated: "[Carano's] dialogue 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

539-503: 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

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588-502: Is still under contract with the UFC through her old Strikeforce contract and has four fights remaining on that contract. 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 reality series Fight Girls . She appeared as "Crush" on

637-488: Is the middle child of three sisters. 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

686-567: The NBC 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

735-679: The University of Nevada, Reno for a year and then University of Nevada, Las Vegas for three years, majoring in psychology. Carano started her career in the sport of Muay Thai . 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 with World Extreme Fighting to fight Leiticia Pestovа (a bout Carano won in 38 seconds). She

784-471: The 2016 film Deadpool . In 2018, she was cast in The Mandalorian , Lucasfilm 's first live-action Star Wars 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 [she] was one of

833-808: The April 5th card. The eighth entry of ShoXC took place on September 26, 2008 at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez , California and aired on the Showtime cable network. In the main event, Wilson Reis became the first ever EliteXC Bantamweight Champion. The ninth and final edition of ShoXC took place on October 10, 2008 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond , Indiana and aired on the Showtime cable network. ProElite ProElite, Inc.

882-677: The Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez , California and aired on the Showtime cable network. In a unique twist, the traditional "preliminary" matches were fought after the main televised bouts. These matches were streamed live via the ProElite website. During the July 27th streaming event, it was announced the next ShoXC card would take place on Showtime on Saturday, August 25, 2007, putting the EliteXC event head-to-head with UFC 74 . The event took place in Vicksburg , Mississippi . The main event

931-460: 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

980-724: The January 25th ShoXC, it was announced the next event would take place on March 21, 2008 in California . The sixth edition of ShoXC took place on April 5, 2008 at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant , California . The seventh edition of ShoXC took place on August 15, 2008 at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California. The main event featured a rematch between Jared Hamman and Po'ai Suganuma, who initially fought on

1029-499: The Rock, Japanese-based DREAM , South Korean-based Spirit MC, and Northern California-based Strikeforce . ProElite also operated ProElite.com, a web portal with social networking for MMA fighters and fans and live streams of MMA bouts not broadcast on Showtime. While EliteXC was a pioneer in MMA's growth (in addition to its groundbreaking network television deal, its first card included

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1078-547: 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,

1127-512: The US. Carano was defended by The Mandalorian co-star Bill Burr , who described her as "an absolute sweetheart" and criticized her firing. In February 2024, Carano filed a lawsuit against Lucasfilm over her firing, alleging wrongful dismissal and sex discrimination . The suit was funded by Elon Musk who had previously promised to support anyone who suffered employment discrimination because of what they posted on X . Disney motioned to have

1176-679: The action film Haywire (2011), which was followed by appearances in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Deadpool (2016). She also portrayed Cara Dune in the first two seasons of the Disney+ space Western series The Mandalorian from 2019 to 2020. Carano was born in Dallas County, Texas , and raised in Las Vegas , Nevada, the daughter of Dana Joy Cason and casino executive and former professional football player Glenn Carano . She

1225-549: 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 142.75 pounds (64.75 kg) on her first attempt. After removing her clothing,

1274-526: 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. Carano was profiled in a feature story for the ESPN 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"

1323-413: The defunct promotion, became contractually linked with Strikeforce after many months of a stalemate regarding their free agent status. It was announced at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields that Carano's fight against Cris Cyborg would take place on August 15, 2009, at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg . Strikeforce created their first Women's Championship for the bout. Though the 145-pound division

1372-641: The few people that you were actually going to see her face." She played the role in seasons 1 and 2. In February 2021, Carano shared an Instagram post that compared "hating someone for their political views" to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust 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

1421-455: The fight on the feet and protect Slice's reputation. The Florida state athletic commission instantly investigated the company for match fixing : while the allegations were unproven, it effectively doomed ProElite's reputation as a legitimate promoter. It eventually sold its tape library, rights to fighters under contract, and most importantly its Showtime/CBS broadcast agreement to Strikeforce chairman Scott Coker in 2009. In March 2011 ProElite

1470-410: The fight, Carano failed to make weight for her fight after weighing in at 144.5 pounds (65.5 kg). Although most MMA organizations set weight classes at 135 lb (61 kg) ( bantamweight ) and 145 lb (66 kg) ( featherweight ), EliteXC opted to create a women's weight class at 140 pounds (64 kg). Carano agreed to forfeit 12.5% of her "show" purse to Young, and the fight remained on

1519-461: 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). After Strikeforce purchased the assets of ProElite , Carano, along with other fighters within

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1568-595: The first airing scheduled for May 31, 2008. A focal point of ProElite's live event promotions was EliteXC . Running its first show in 2007, it quickly became one of the most visible brands in mixed martial arts in the United States. ProElite also acquired several long-standing mixed martial arts promotions since its founding, including King of the Cage , Hawaii-based Icon Sport, and British promotion Cage Rage . The company also had working relationships with Rumble on

1617-461: The first televised women's MMA match when Gina Carano faced Julie Kedzie , and it continued to air female matches on many of its shows) its run came to an end after the event EliteXC: Heat , which was held in October 2008 and broadcast live on CBS. Held near star fighter Kimbo Slice 's hometown of Miami , the event was designed to give the wildly popular viral video street-fighter legitimacy as

1666-509: 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 Carano said she

1715-497: The role. She described her knockout fight with co-star Michael Fassbender : We were brutal to each other. He was slamming me into the wall. He slammed my head so hard, I lost it for a second—I went white. And at one point, our knees clashed, [and] he got a limp. In February 2012, Carano was cast in In the Blood (2014), an action thriller directed by John Stockwell . In 2012, Carano

1764-458: The show. The company's return show took place on August 27, 2011 in Hawaii and streamed live on Sherdog.com . ProElite announced a partnership with DREAM to share fighters shortly before it went out of business. This partnership made possible a fight between Kendall Grove and Ikuhisa Minowa in ProElite 3 in early 2012. After this event ProElite has seemingly gone out of business. As the company

1813-540: Was also dropped by the United Talent Agency . 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

1862-503: 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 without Jamba." The project has yet to materialize. Carano appeared in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) as

1911-473: 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 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

1960-498: Was established the man who initially had the idea to launch ProElite, Wallid Ismail, was pressured to have signed out all of his rights, with the other stakeholders gaining complete control over the startup. Gina Carano Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982 ) is an American actress and former mixed martial artist . She competed in Elite Xtreme Combat and Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009, where she compiled

2009-635: 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

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2058-474: 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

2107-488: 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". Her posting of a series of posts in which she mocked the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States was also cited by Lucasfilm as well as her repeated belief of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election . She

2156-463: Was rumored to be the unsuccessful second bidder against the UFC in an attempt to acquire rival MMA promotion Strikeforce. The offer was said to exceed 40 million dollars. Principals at ProElite immediately confirmed the companies intention to re enter the MMA live event promotional business as they had with the record breaking Kimbo Slice events on CBS. Rumors immediately began circulating that ProElite

2205-626: Was rushed to the hospital by ambulance for dehydration while attending a World Extreme Cagefighting 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 . 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

2254-589: Was targeted as a strategic acquisition by either the UFC or an unidentified third party investor wishing to enter the MMA promotional space. PELE.PK stock jumped from .01 per share to more than .20 per share in two days as investors realized the stock routinely traded at $ 15 per share while ProElite was promoting live events. In June 2011, Stratus Media Group secured a 95% ownership of ProElite. The group confirmed their intention to return to promoting mixed martial arts with former ICON owner T. Jay Thompson and former Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou brought on board to run

2303-400: Was the fastest-rising search on Google and third-most-searched person on Yahoo! , and ranked no. 5 on Yahoo!'s "Top Ten Influential Women of 2008" list. In May 2009, Carano was ranked no. 16 on Maxim ' s Hot 100 list. She is one of the cover athletes along with Serena Williams for the October 19, 2009, edition of ESPN The Magazine ' s Body Issue. She was a nominee for

2352-633: Was the first female fight in Strikeforce . 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". It was the first televised female fight on Showtime. 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 news outlets reported that Carano

2401-622: Was the rematch between Charles Bennett and Victor Valenzuela, which was originally scheduled for Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni . On the August 25th broadcast, it was announced that the next edition of ShoXC would take place on October 26, 2007 on Showtime at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez , California . The fourth edition of ShoXC took place on January 25, 2008 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City , New Jersey . On

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