But then White and the UFC brass came calling. After that, Carano moved on to being an actor and making movies Hollywood. Suffice to say, a fight between them easily could’ve been one of the biggest fights in MMA history.Ĭarano’s final bout was a loss to Cyborg under the Strikeforce banner in August 2009. Long before Rousey became a mainstream star thanks to the UFC, Gina Carano was the first breakthrough star of women’s MMA. Like we said, probably for the better for Rousey.
And by the time Cyborg made her UFC debut in May 2016, the ship had sailed as Holly Holm made Rousey look silly in a stand-up fight before knocking her out in November 2015 at UFC 193, killing all possibility of a Rousey-Cyborg showdown. The UFC could’ve poached Cyborg from Invicta at any point to make it happen but never did. Rousey wanted Cyborg to come down all the way to 135 pounds instead of meeting in the middle at a 140 catchweight. Cyborg, meanwhile, had been pummeling opponents since 2005 and was easily the hardest hitter in women’s MMA.Ĭyborg was in Invicta FC at the time talk of a Rousey superfight really ramped up, but there was always the issue of weight to hold things up. Rousey was the biggest star in the UFC, running through bantamweight competition with her signature armbar as she made six consecutive title defenses. But at the time it was being discussed, a matchup between them could’ve easily been billed as the unstoppable force vs. This pick comes with a caveat in that we have the benefit of hindsight in knowing that a fight between Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg likely would’ve gone badly for Rousey. didn’t like that idea, so the superfight of all superfights never came to be. In a 2017 interview, St-Pierre said he would’ve fought Silva at a 177-pound catchweight, but White and Co. We all salivated at the thought of the two fighters considered to be the greatest of all time settling the debate in the cage.īoth men were open to it, but the size difference always was a concern as St-Pierre wasn’t a very big 170-pounder and then-middleweight champion Silva was a big 185er who performed well at light heavyweight. That’s what White said in November 2012 just before GSP defended his welterweight title for the seventh consecutive time by beating Carlos Condit at UFC 154. We’ve been talking to (Cowboys Stadium officials) for a while.” Pierre against Anderson Silva were to happen, that’s the fight you could do at Cowboys Stadium. Georges St-Pierre (left) and Anderson Silva face off during an appearance in September 2019. Fedor instead signed with Strikeforce where he went 1-3. Could you imagine how amazing that would’ve been?Īlas, White and Fedor never reached an agreement. White met with Fedor once, with the hope of striking a deal that would bring him over to the UFC to challenge Lesnar for the title at Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium). Then you had Lesnar, a behemoth of a man who came over from WWE and won the UFC heavyweight championship by dominating Randy Couture in just his third promotional appearance. At the time, he was widely considered the greatest heavyweight ever. Fedor hadn’t lost in nine years, during which he posted a 27-0 record with one no contest while dominating mostly in PRIDE. We’ll start with the one White admits got away: Fedor Emelianenko vs. (Note: This list excludes fights that were booked but didn’t happen because of circumstances outside of the UFC’s control.) Every other fight that we ever thought about or the fans wanted to see or whatever it was, I’ve made.”īelow are five UFC superfights White should’ve made but didn’t. “The only fight that I ever failed to make was Fedor vs. “Well, if you think about it, I’ve made every fight that was ever possible to make in MMA, including Mayweather and McGregor,” White said Wednesday during a fan Q&A hosted by Laura Sanko. In the history of the UFC, it’s happened a handful of times, although UFC president Dana White insists it’s happened only once since he took over the promotion in 2001. One thing fans of mixed martial arts often rave about compared to boxing is that, in MMA, “the best fight the best.” While that’s mostly true, it’s not always the case.Įvery now and then we clamor for a fight that doesn’t get made for one reason or another.
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